Halo: The Enigma inference
by Jonas Copperwire
Summary: Fleeing from their universe, the reaper defector Enigma and his allies stumble into a new conflict. A conflict where the victim is out numbered and faced with extinction. The white reaper is not about to sit on the sidelines and watch this time... *Please read 'Mass Effect: The reaper Enigma' before reading this to reduce confusion.*
1. Prologue

**Authors Note: I will try to stay as close to Halo /Mass Effect canon as possible but keep in mind Enigma is not your average reaper. Also please read Mass Effect: The reaper Enigma, before starting this one.**

In the vastness of space, there shone may stars. One star that was not there before suddenly shone with a luminescent orange. It rapidly expanded vertically into a glowing disk 4 kilometers in diameter. Out of the portal flew three 1.75 kilometer collector cruisers armed for war, followed by four white reaper destroyers, and finally the 2 kilometer form of the white sovereign class reaper known as Enigma.

The race of twenty-three trillion minds that made up Enigma's consciousness all pondered the question his allies and partners were no doubt asking themselves: _Where are we?_ The reaper examined numerous constellations and stellar bodies. Enigma was finally able to orient themselves. They were in the same galaxy as far as they could tell but with a fundamental difference: no mass relays. This was both a comforting and disturbing fact to the reapers and their allies. While this meant there were not any reapers here, it also alluded to numerous uncertainties.

Enigma directed his allies to move in the direction of what would be the nearest habitable planet. The small fleet entered FTL.

In their galaxy the planet they were headed towards was known as Thessia, the asari homeworld, but in this universe it was called by the humans, Harvest.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Enigma will switch back and forth between thinking of himself as a single conscious entity and twenty-three trillion minds, using 'we' and 'us.' He will sometimes be referred to as a 'they' as opposed to a 'he.'**

**I am using **_**Halo: Fall of Reach**_** as a reference book just so those of you who are reading this are aware.**

The reaper and his fleet entered the system with their stealth systems engaged uncertain as to whether or not the system was inhabited. To their surprise, not the first and certainly not the last they will experience this day, the planet, they knew as Thessia in their universe, had a surface covered in a glass-like substance. The reapers analyzed the atmosphere and came to the realization that whatever happened here, it was recent. Without needing to be asked, the white reaper destroyer named Agriculture descended to the planet with a collector cruiser both with their stealth systems engaged.

The rest stayed in orbit scanning the surrounding space for clues or a hint because, based on their millions of years of experience, there was not a force in nature that could do that to a planet. The reapers for all their destructive capability never stripped a planet of its ability to sustain life as that would be counter-productive to the cycle. The collector soldiers claimed that something didn't feel right about what they have seen thus far. The white reaper destroyer Military concurred. Enigma had long ago paid attention to things such as hunches and instincts, while incapable of experiencing such things, the white reapers had evaded discovery or destruction by listening to the hunches of the experienced soldiers in the collector ranks.

They detected three fluctuations in space on the other side of the planet. Maintaining their stealth, they made two short FTL jumps to the disturbance. The sight that greeted them was a confrontation between two parties. The reapers were able to easily identify one as being human due to life signs readings and the unmistakable starship design as elaborated by the white reaper destroyer Industry, who had studied starship designs over many cycles. There were three human ships identified as the _CMA Arabia, _the _CMA Vostok_, and the _CMA Heracles_. The first two were slightly smaller than the third. What got their attention was the source of the human ships' attention.

They were focusing on a vessel that was aquatic in appearance but also possessing a hostile undertone. The vessel was as long as Enigma himself was and obviously carrying considerable firepower. The life signs the reaper destroyer Religion picked up numbered as six. There were several flashes along the hull before several red streaks jumped from the aquatic vessel to the human ships. The vessel identified as the _Arabia_ succumbed immediately. The human ships retaliated with a salvo of missiles, most of which were intercepted by the ship's laser weapons systems. When the missiles that made it through the laser screen struck the ship, a semitransparent shield appeared around the whole ship.

Industry took note of the encompassing shield and the weapons array thus far demonstrated by the craft. The craft answered the hail of missiles with a two guided globs of magnetically contained plasma. Both plasma shots splashed against the remaining two human vessels. Within seconds the _Vostok_ was destroyed and the _Heracles_ was heavily damaged. The last human vessel pulled a turn that would do a reaper proud, then proceeded to utilize a jump system that got the reapers' attention in the first place. The human ship vanished into the special rupture. Silence once again permeated the cold of space, until Enigma decided to take action of his own.

Though sitting there and watching meant the deaths of those brave men and women, the enemy had revealed their hand in their attack. The reaper coordinated with his forces and made ready to attack.


	3. Chapter 2

Enigma analyzed the data they gathered on the vessel belonging to an organic conglomerate that called themselves the Covenant. Thus far, the ship had not detected them. When the reaper wondered how close they could approach the ship cloaked before being detected, the most reckless of his destroyers, Religion ironically, rapidly closed the gap and flew close circles around the ship. The vessel did not respond. So surprise was a weapon still in their arsenal. They came to a consensus concerning the Covenant ship: in a stand up fight, casualties on their side would be 74% or higher. Though, Enigma and his small fleet have yet to engage in a stand up fight.

Onboard the Covenant battleship _Penitent Ascendance_, shipmaster Selik For'ten stood before the numerous displays examining the data from the previous battle. The Sangheili shipmaster understood the holy mission the Covenant now embarked upon but still he admired the courage of these 'humans.' No warrior should fully disgrace an enemy that fought with such honor.

Suddenly, all the screens went out and were replaced by a red hologram of a creature that resembled a mutated Yanme'e with a large head and four eyes. As quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared.

"All hands battlestations" screamed the shipmaster into the comm. But as soon as he shouted swarms of tiny creatures flew out of the vents into the control room. Selik watched in surprise as most of the bridge crew was stung and frozen in place by the tiny creatures. Most of the Sangheili Captains in the control room activated their shields and the tiny creatures simply bounced off. They were forced to evacuate the control room. The shipmaster and the captains sealed the door behind them and ran to the hangar.

The sight that greeted what was left of the bridge staff was a nightmare. The swarms were there but also four-limbed variations of the multi-limbed monstrosity they saw projected in the control room. They came in many variations and colors. They saw sangheili, unggoy, kig-yar, yanme'e, and even jiralhanae loaded into pods and floated out of the hangar to wherever they boarded from. It suddenly occurred to the shipmaster that they will be after the main computer. He quietly signaled the other sangheili from the control room to follow him to the armory.

In the computer room, several collectors in lab coats worked on the computer looking for viruses and AI. One collector named 36, as he had asked Enigma to erase his memories of his past which included his name but not his personality, was making conversation with a creature known as a huragok. 36's research was centered mainly around medicine and biomechanics but as a hobby he was a linguist, which was why he was talking to the interesting creature in front of him. Lacking vocal cords, the collectors communicated between each other and Enigma via comm implant. However when conversation with an organic that lacked the implant was required, they wore a specially designed vocabulator collar.

To the surprise of the collectors and ultimately their reaper bosses, the huragok were actually indifferent as to who was in charge just as long as they got to repair or inspect technology. 36 communicated this to his general, who in turn communicated it to one of the reapers outside. The response was immediate considering the speed at which the reapers and the collectors communicated. 36 was to invite the huragok to join them on one of the docked collector cruisers.

He was about to relay this request, when five beings identified as sangheili ran into the computer room. Four of them threw grenades which adhered to the computers and detonated, destroying them. The fifth shouted something, pulled out a glowing sword, ran at the huragok next to him, and raised his arm for a vertical downward slash. 36 snapped his right arm out pushing the huragok out of the way only for his arm to be severed off from the shoulder. His nervous system shut off the pain receptors to his arm right away giving him the chance to retaliate with an omni-blade straight into the head of his aggressor… with his left arm.

The shipmaster watched as one of his captains slashed off the right arm of one of the insectoids but rather than grabbing its arm in pain, it instead stabbed the lieutenant in the head with an orange blade that mysteriously appeared around its remaining arm. The captain fell down dead. As the insectoid pushed the huragok into cover, more in black armor ran into the room firing a sickly yellow beams with organic looking weaponry. One of the blasts hits another captain, his shields collapses instantly, and the beam cuts him down. The shipmaster throws his remaining grenades in their direction and his remaining two captains do the same.

The explosion distracts the insectoids long enough for the three sangheili to escape. They run out of the computer room and back to the hangar. They make a running jump from two decks to the hangar floor. The shipmaster and one of the captain hovered up into a phantom while the other captain got into a banshee. They flew out of the hangar as quickly as they could manage. The shipmaster brought up the rearview sensors and what he saw made fear rise in his throat.

Attached to the sides of his ship were two craft unlike anything he had ever seen. They had neither the blocky appearance of the human ships, the smooth curvature of Covenant craft, nor angular beauty of the relics. They looked almost… crystalline. In addition to them, walking along the hull, were two mechs at least three times bigger than a scarab. They had four legs like a scarab but a large head that curved. But the biggest horror came into view as the hologram grew further from the ship. A machine, as big as if not bigger than his ship, was laying on top of it with six massive three jointed legs at one end grabbing onto the hull and five pairs of smaller ones under the things 'head' also clinging to the hull. Both it and the mechs bore the same white armor.

The rear view holoscreen was replaced with the multilimbed monstrosity that he first saw in the control room. It wagged one of its limbs with a waving motion. It disappeared only to show the giant machine again with two of its giant limbs pointing in his direction. The tips glowed with a red light.

The phantom and the banshee were destroyed.


	4. Chapter 3

36 sat in the repair bay of Collector Cruiser #2, his home for the past 6 million years. His severed arm was destroyed in the computer room so here he was getting a prosthetic replacement courtesy of his employers, the White Reapers. Usually they would just grow a new one and attach it but the military department claimed the prosthetic was an interesting replacement. While he had done similar replacements in the past, doing it to himself with one arm would be painstakingly slow, so one of his own staff was doing it. As the prosthetic was attached, 36 examined the latest batches of tests on the captured races after the generals extracted the information they needed from their minds.

In space, Enigma, still attached to the battleship, was analyzing the information provided by the huragok, what little data was extracted from the computer systems, and the knowledge and memories extracted from the crew. While the Covenant was almost entirely dependent on the huragok for technological maintenance and repair, their shields and weapons arrays were considerably greater as far as sheer destructive power was concerned. However, due to religious restrictions all sense of innovation was wiped from their culture which was a good for them once they had reverse engineered the technology and made something better, he would at least fare better than he did currently. But they lacked the crucial resources to make such an upgrade.

The collectors had removed the Covenant vehicles and were now disassembling them. The battleship's computer was rebuilt but had lost any information on the workings of the Covenant. Regardless, it was now operated remotely with a few modifications courtesy of the white reapers. The huragok had transferred over to collector ship #1. Cracking open the secrets of Covenant technology is a walk in the park for a reaper composed of twenty-three trillion, fully-intact scientists but producing something better required resources and the ability to manufacture them, neither of which they possessed.

They had retrieved what was left of the two human craft and managed to reconstruct a vast amount of information on the humans. He discovered that the human occupied 23% of this galaxy, having had no alien contact outside of this planet called Harvest. "This could complicate things," thought the reaper. As they analyzed the ship, they discovered another fascinating but unsurprising discovery; no element zero. As the reapers were the reason that their galaxy of origin knew of element zero at all, there was little reason to believe that the knowledge of the technology would be virtually nonexistent here. Still what they developed in its place was nothing short of genius, granted their history of war forced these developments but ingenious all the same.

The reaper detected what they now labeled as 'slipspace ruptures.' Enigma, his destroyers, and the collector cruisers, all cloaked around the battleship, as dozens of additional Covenant craft emerged from the ruptures. Thanks to the knowledge and memories extracted from the crew, Enigma dispatched the reports according to their communication protocols, purposely excluding the human attack as they had cleared all the evidence. They were able to simulate the life signs of a normal crew onboard. The Covenant fleet replied with no hint of being aware of the fact that the ship was empty. The reaper-controlled battleship joined formation with the fleet as it assumed a lower orbit over the planet.

The Covenant fleet just sat there apparently waiting for orders. Some ships flew delivering officers to different ships obviously for military inspections. Posing as an overly enthusiastic officer, Enigma asked for an inspection, which of course deterred the inspectors from coming near the ship. During the cycles, Enigma always knew reverse psychology was a wonderful deterrent especially in a military. However, this deception could not be maintained indefinitely, that was where the humans came in…


	5. Chapter 4

The Szn'ftel, the race that was the make-up of Enigma and his destroyers, never 'socialized' during their cycle because they were so focused on research and technology. Then when the human that they had come to know as Shepard destroyed Sovereign, they looked at what gave him the ability to do what he did. An ordinary reaper could not conceive what Enigma found out about the man, an ability which defied the Catalyst and its plans: the ability to make friends. Religion suggested an experiment, a social experiment, something they have observed but never tried. Enigma was their leader and gave his permission to begin the experiment to see if they can make new friends.

The Covenant fleet assumed a level what was apparently 'normal' for them. Small simulated skirmishes broke out, a few of which the white reaper-owned battleship participated in. If you are infiltrating an enemy, the worst thing you could do aside from shouting 'look at me' is to be silent. So they socialized posing as crewmembers whose memories and personalities had been scanned by the generals. They started to learn about the inner workings of the Covenant through the subtleties and undertones of socialization. Then a surprising development emerged from all the socialization: friendship. As they conversed they came to realize that their battleship had become the social hub of the fleet. Enigma learned a long time ago that friendship is a risk. It could either stab you in the back or forge a bond that the might of the reaper fleets could never break.

It started with little chats between the same races but soon they began to branch out forging bonds of friendship across species. Then the first difficulty emerged, a lack of physical contact. They rectified this by converting collectors using the now processed crew and advanced holographic technology. While they could have perfectly reconstructed the crew giving them their memories, knowledge, personalities, and a means of infiltrating, they instead chose to become them taking on their general shape with the holograms filling in the blanks of which there were quite a few. The physical contact brought new dimensions to their understanding of socialization. They learned about an eighth race that they had missed before: the Lekgolo, a race the functioned like a hive mind and controlled numerous Covenant technologies.

But they were not only making new friends but building, working, upgrading, preparing… for a conflict they knew was inevitable, their discovery.


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Some of you are inquiring as to why Enigma's background story is so short and why he doesn't stay. Well, first off in case you are wondering, Enigma turned on the other reapers shortly after the cure was dispersed on Tuchanka. Second, his impact on the mass effect galaxy was so miniscule it is not something I am going to bother with because the whole idea of his background story was to tell who he is and where he is from, little more than an introduction.**

They knew this was going to happen, that their social experiment would collide with Covenant religious belief in the Great Journey. Ironically, the suspicion of us not being who we said we were started with an unggoy deacon. We withdrew from him but more and more began to be negatively suspicious. Agriculture suggested they escalate the few friendships they still maintained with those who doubted the Great Journey. So they privately began to reveal themselves, one by one, to the few friendships that remained. The reaction was… surprising.

Rather than panicking, as they largely suspected would happen, the remaining friends became loyal to the White Reapers as opposed to the Great Journey. The friends numbered to a couple hundred composed of mainly mgalekgolo, several unggoy, and a few sangheili minors. Their friends had come to realize a fundamental truth about the religion that bound them together; the Great Journey was little more than a well-conceived lie. Knowing that soon that they would have to choose between the reapers and the Covenant, Enigma gave them the option of moving onto the collector cruisers, an offer that their new friends chose to take them up on. One by one, their friends were secreted out of their starships and replaced with synthetic duplicates.

This process was accelerated when a sangheili major challenged one of the undercover collectors in sangheili form to a duel. To have declined would have brought unwelcome attention to the reaper-controlled battleship. The difficulty was that the collector may have had the sangheili's memories as a point of reference but it lacked the reflexes necessary for the ensuing combat. Not but two minutes into the duel, the collector was stabbed through the middle and neither cried out in pain nor did it die. Rather, its holographic camouflage failed. Taking advantage of the apparent shock, the collector utilized its biotics to rip apart all the occupants of the room having hacked the lock and sealed them in. It gathered all the remaining friends on that ship and escaped on a phantom which disappeared into a collector ship.

The Covenant fleet went on high alert but their battlenet spoke of confusion. Fingers were pointed at specific ships but none with concrete evidence. Ship was aiming at ship, while the remainder of their friends was collected and replaced. The white reapers and the collectors sowed further confusion and hatred until the first shot was fired by one ship to another. The Covenant was now fighting among themselves as the plasma flew, that is until the human fleet arrived at Harvest…


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's note: I will attempt to make my chapters longer but of course that will mean long waits for me to post the next chapter of the Enigma saga. Also I know, that admiral Cole's engagement was one Covenant ship vs. 40 UNSC ships but seeing as Enigma controls the one ship, I thought it would be a little anti-climactic, so I threw in more ships to add to the drama.**

**To answer the question posed by Spriggs:"****what would be the impact of human AIs in the story since the reapers are all AIs themselves?" Enigma and his destroyers are **_**not**_** composed of sentient programs like the other reapers but rather sentient beings who perserved their conscious minds as Enigma and his destroyers. They are a perfect fusion of organic and synthetic rather than machines composed of metal and biomass. As for what they will think of the UNSC AIs… why don't you wait and see.**

Vice Admiral Preston Cole was sitting in the command chair of _UNSC Everest_ looking at the information about the Covenant. One data packet, which he already had read, contained the detailed report on a Covenant encounter in Chi Ceti. While another contained the details and footage from the _CMS Heracles_ about the fourteen second engagement with a single Covenant battleship, he had finished that one as well. It was the third that really sent chills down his spine for inside was footage taken from a UNSC prowler that was in system prior to the _Heracles _engagement.

He watched for the fourteenth time as the Covenant battleship destroyed the _CMA Arabia_ and _CMA Vostok, _then a heavily damaged _Heracles_ escape into slipspace. The video then turned towards the Covenant battleship. Admiral Cole fast forwarded it to 15 min to the point where something new unveiled themselves. It started with the revealing of three ships almost as long as the battleship, attached to the battleship. Following them, came four large white constructs that crawled along the hull. They resembled large crabs as they skittered along the hull of battleship except for one area on the battleship's back. Then a cuttlefish-shaped vessel as large as the battleship revealed itself. It had six massive legs attached to the front end while there were five sets of two smaller legs under the 'head.' It shared the same white plating with the smaller machines.

When he first saw them he thought they were associates or allies of the Covenant, then the footage zoomed in on two obviously Covenant ships, one large designated as a phantom and a smaller one designated as a banshee, flying out of the hangar at high speed. Five seconds later, the two craft were destroyed by two red beams that disintegrated them. The admiral zoomed out and rewound to see two of the massive white ship's limbs extended with their tips aiming at the departing craft. The tips glowed with red energy before vaporizing the comparatively tiny ships. When he thought it was done the video continued as more slipspace portals opened and the alien craft vanished around the battleship.

Admiral Cole closed the file. The rest was speculation concerning the white vessels. The admiral had his own ideas. Their actions clearly did not place them as the Covenant's allies but that did not mean they were friendly. Him and the forty ships under his command were here among other things were here to find out what the intentions of that thing is.

"Exiting slipspace in 5… 4… 3…"

The entire Covenant fleet orbiting what was left of Harvest was fighting among themselves. This was a good thing… for Enigma and his cloaked forces. Friendship has a precarious pitfall. If it fails it leaves bitter… cold… betrayal… and hatred. The white reapers had finished gathering their friends and using everyone else to fight against one another. An indoctrination field allows a reaper to eventually seize control of the minds of organic life via proximity alone but as Enigma and his destroyers did possess one, they had to rely on a power that the Catalyst himself could not conceive: the power of words.

While the Catalyst and the reapers did utilize words, they did not think of them as anything more than mediums of information exchange, which was where they failed as the machines they were. Enigma and his destroyers were so much more than just machines. They were a blending of organic and synthetic life, the only time that the Catalyst's claim of preserving life through reaper form was true. Organics possessed the ability to empower words and machines the immunity to the corrosion of time. This combination resulted in the white reapers with the ability to turn the Covenant fleet upon itself.

40 scattered slipspace portals opened up and the blocky shapes of various human craft came through.

Admiral Cole was surprised with the sight that greeted him, dozens of Covenant ships firing at one another, all that is except one battleship which was neither attacking nor being attacked.

"Attention all ships, this is admiral Cole, arm Archer missile pods and charge MACs and fire target all ships say for the one I designate."

"All ships reporting ready, sir"

"Fire."

Enigma watched the human ships fire massive slugs in a similar manner to the mass accelerators from their universe though significantly slower rate of fire and thousands of missiles in addition to those. Then the Covenant took notice of the human ships and ceased their infighting only to be heavily damaged or destroyed. Those that remained spewed plasma at their new attackers. Enigma activated the little surprises he had put on their ships: dark matter explosives.

The larger vessel shook as dark green explosion filled the shield bubbles before detonating with incredible force, wiping out the smaller Covenant ships. The remainder of the Covenant forces in this area was cleaned up by the humans. The human ships did not fire at the Covenant battleship under their control, which led Enigma to conclude that they knew he was there. He decloaked himself and detached from the battleship and slowly approached the human fleet folding his limbs up behind himself, his destroyers and allies followed doing the same.


	8. Chapter 7

Admiral Cole watched the strange white ships approach flying towards them. The ones with white plating flew vertically oriented as opposed to horizontally. The limbs of the big one were folded up behind it which could mean non-hostile. All the UNSC ships had their weapons aimed at the oncoming vessels. The vessels stopped 50km short of the fleet . Then they just sat there. Admiral Cole reviewed First Contact protocols. He opened up the comm.

"Attention unknown vessels, this is Admiral Preston Cole of the United Nations Space Command, we come in peace."

The admiral suddenly had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach like he was being directly looked at by millions of eyes. A lean young adult with white cropped hair in a business suit manifested on the bridge, it was a hologram. The hologram looked at the admiral and spoke with a colloquial voice.

"Greetings Admiral Cole, We are Enigma."

"Are you part of or allied with the Covenant?" asked the concerned admiral.

"No"

Relieved the admiral addressed the hologram," Is Enigma the name of your race?"

"No, it is our name."

Confused, the admiral asked," Then what is the name of your race?"

"In our universe, millions of years before your race even existed, we were the Szn'ftel." Said the hologram. The hologram did not use a condescending tone when it made the statement but merely stated it as fact.

_So, we are dealing with a very old race from another universe,_ thought the admiral.

"Why are you here?"

"We came fleeing the other reapers. We have no intention of returning."

"How did you get to our universe?"

"We will not tell you."

_At least they are straight forward._

"How many of you came here and will these 'reapers' follow?"

The hologram gestured to the ships outside," What you see is all there is and no. Sending general codex on reapers and the white reapers."

The ships AI, Welland, who appeared as a WWI British Officer appeared at the AI pedestal nearby.

"Checking for viruses… Clean."

The alien hologram raised an eyebrow at the AI but did not speak. Admiral Cole read through the file. As he read, he started to hope that this file was the aliens' idea of a cruel joke. Until he got to the video section of the file, his eyes widened and darted between the videos and the white craft or should he say white reaper. At first he began to panic but it suddenly occurred to him that the reapers outside could have hidden this from them and they never would have known.

He opened the file on Enigma and examined their history. Though the file did not elaborate how exactly Enigma was different, it summarized on what it did differently and its precious cargo. He considered for a moment that this might be a trick but then thought if you were attempting to deceive someone into liking you, one thing you did not do was point out the bad points in your history.

The admiral addressed the avatar of the sentient starship," I want to see them."

"Sending docking coordinates." Said the hologram before dissipating.

Admiral Cole got out of his chair and made his way to the hangar. The officer from ONI who had examined his own copy of the files followed.

"Sir, with respect, I believe you ought to remain here and let me take a look."

The admiral got into the elevator and the colonel from ONI got in with him. The admiral regarded the officer.

"Come along if you like but I am going whether ONI likes it or not."

"And what of this indoctrination field that reapers are said to have? You are deliberately putting yourself at risk!" Said the Colonel

"Didn't you read the other file on the white reapers? They do not have such a field."

"But what if that thing is trying to deceive you and indoctrinate you as an agent of their will?"

"If that was the case, then why mention the field at all? You saw they had the ability to cloak themselves. They could have indoctrinated the entire fleet and we would have never known. I am going to personally verify the only part of story they can prove."

The elevator doors parted and the admiral stepped into the hangar.

"ADMIRAL ON DECK!"

A contingent of marines stood at the ready before a pelican as the admiral, the colonel, and several other marines got in. The aft hatch of the occupied pelican closed and the craft deftly lifted off. The pelican flew towards the white reaper.

"Approaching docking coordinates, sir." Said the pilot

"Geeze, that thing is big!" exclaimed one of the marines.

The pelican oriented itself under the head of the reaper. A tube extended from the reaper and attached itself to the overhead airlock.

"Clean seal, sir. You can open the hatch."

A marine opened the hatch and climbed up the ladder into a dark room with orange lighting. Doing a quick sweep the marine gave the all clear. The admiral, the colonel, and three more marines climbed up into the room. The hatch in the floor of the room closed and another opened above them with another ladder up to it. The same marine climbed up into the brightly lit tube. A mechanical three-fingered hand was extended to the marine. He took it and was hauled up.

The hand was extended downward again, the admiral took it, and was hauled up. Once his feet were back on the ground he saw who or rather what was helping them up. It was a humanoid insectoid creature with a wide tapered head with four pupiless eyes. It was wearing what looked to be a high-tech lab-coat and it appeared to be unarmed. It pulled up the colonel with its right mechanical arm. Soon it had pulled everyone up.

The admiral addressed the thing," Hello, I am Admiral Preston Cole."

He extended his hand wondering if the alien understood the gesture. It took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

It appeared to speak from the collar it wore with a male moderately-pitched voice, "I am 36, a collector."

"What kind of name is 36?" blurted out one of the marines.

"Stow it, private." Said the marine's superior.

The collector tapped its foot and crouched. They all imitated the position. They suddenly felt the force of gravity leave the room. The collector gently pushes himself up the tube. They push off in a similar manner and ascend the tube behind the collector.

It took a few minutes but they eventually reached the top of the tube where they entered a slightly-larger, circular room. As soon as they were all in the room the door beneath them closed and they slowly descended to the ground as gravity gradually increased to normal. A door in the side of the room opened.

"Follow me, please." said the collector.

They followed the alien through tight corridors. The colonel attempted to get through one of the closed off doors. The collector stopped the party and went back to the colonel.

"The room beyond is not pressurized. Unless you would rather suffocate in a vacuum."

"Then you are hiding something." Answered the colonel.

"If I was to board your ship, would you let me see everything? Besides Enigma needs no crew, so few spaces on the ship have air, and there is no life support system. Shall we proceed?"

Without another word they moved on until they reached a big long room composed of hexagonal panels for a wall. 36 walked up to one of the panels, touched it, and moved out of the way as the panel slid out. Nestled on a rack in a field of some sort were eggs with the same white coloration as the hull of the ship. The admiral stoops and gets a closer look. He then looks up at 36 and asks,

" May I touch one?"

The collector tilted its head to one side before answering.

"You have permission," the field encompassing the rack shut off," but only for a moment."

The admiral picked up one of the football-sized eggs and held it, feeling a glass-like texture yet warmth that was convalescent of life. He handed the egg to the colonel who also felt it. It looked like he was about to hand it back when he 'accidentally' dropped it. A luminescent green haze encompassed the egg suspending it in mid-air. The admiral and his party looked up to see 36 with his left arm extended, seeming to control the field. The collector moved his arm slightly, maneuvering the egg back into the rack. The field returned and the rack retracted back into the wall.

"I believe it is time for you gentlemen to leave." Said the collector.

They filed out of the room with the collector bringing up the rear.

The admiral returned to the _Everest _with a lot on his mind, especially the actions of the ONI colonel whom he had written a bad report about. Still he wondered if the 'accident' would have greater implications.

"ADMIRAL ON THE BRIDGE!"

Everyone that was not at a watchstation came to attention.

Admiral Cole addressed the sensor officer," Any new contacts?"

"None, sir."

Enigma's holographic avatar was there looking at the admiral. He sat down in the command chair and looked at the avatar.

"So, what now?" The admiral asked the reaper.

"Do our stated intentions ring true?"

"Yes, they do." Replied the admiral.

"Then we desire you to discretely express our desire to ally with you against the threat you are about to face. Transmitting Covenant Codex."

"Files received, virus check complete," said the AI Welland.

The admiral opened the new file and read it. After about ten minutes of reading, the admiral made a copy of them, the files on the reapers the white reapers, his proposal to ally with the white reapers, his reason why, the report, and footage about what occurred there. He handed them to the communications officer.

"Send these to UNSC Headquarters."

"Aye sir."

The admiral turned back to the teenage avatar," So, what now?"

"When you are ready to speak with us again, we will be close by."

The hologram disappeared and the reapers and collector ships backed away, cloaking themselves, once more.


	9. Chapter 8

**Authors note: To all my readers, I truly appreciate all your comments as they have inspired me to continue with this first-of-a-kind fanfiction. I will endeavor to increase the length of the chapters but as you no doubt know that means longer periods of time between chapters.**

The white reapers watched as the human fleet assumed orbit over one of the few unglassed areas on Harvest. Agriculture was on the surface attempting to coax life out of the soil, which they had cleared of glass-like substance. They were using the biomechanical plant their race had used those many years ago to consume the glass-like layer and died leaving behind fertile soil and repairing the atmosphere at the same time. The plant was one of many cultivated by the agriculture caste of the Szn'ftel to serve a variety of roles in their society, among which was serving as ablative armor for the white reapers.

Enigma thought about the humans in this universe. According to their calendar, the year was 2526 as opposed to the year 2186 in the universe that they left behind. The appearance of synthetic intelligence was a surprise but not a disappointment. Long had the reaper thought that if given the chance, organics and synthetics could coexist, to actually see it happen was relieving. Their technology was fascinating, sharing many traits with element zero technology. To a degree, it was more primitive than the humans from his universe but that was not surprising considering they had nothing to reverse engineer. Still, this 'Covenant' could easily prove to be their downfall if action was not taken in haste.

Ambassador Simon Maris scratched himself after having climbed out of the cryo-pod 30 minutes ago. He was not exactly happy considering he was woken up at four in the morning by ONI inside a Prowler on its way to Harvest, though his briefing quickly changed his mood. It was still hard to believe: Aliens. It seemed like yesterday that humanity was the only species in the universe but that changed first with the Covenant and now with these 'White reapers.' He was deemed 'the best ambassador they could get on such short notice.' He watched the video clip of the sentient starship destroying the covenant craft again, he was starting to think that wasn't such a good thing.

The United Nations Space Command had made it abundantly clear that he was to determine the intentions of this seemingly friendly alien race. ONI wanted to know what technology they would be willing to impart. The United Earth Government sent their own 'suggestions' as to how the negotiations were to proceed. All the same, everything that was being asked of him carried the same undertone: fear. The Covenant would inevitably descend on the galaxy in a war of genocide and if these reapers were willing to help then they might have a chance of winning.

The lights in his room briefly flickered, indicating they had dropped out of slipspace. He walked out of his small cabin to the bridge. He looked out the windows to see the Admiral Cole's taskforce to retake Harvest orbiting the planet in question. The fleet of ships stayed well and clear of the lone Covenant battleship which the reports indicated was under the control of the reapers. Though the reapers and the ships that held the collectors was nowhere in sight. He knew that they possessed the ability to cloak themselves but that did not do much to levy the cold sweat feeling.

The Prowler docked with the _Everest_ and the ambassador walked down the ramp carrying the duffel ONI had packed for him. At the bottom of the ramp Admiral Cole waited with a small contingent of marines. In spite of his age, the admiral seemed vibrant and alert. Upon reaching the bottom of the ramp, it retracted and the Prowler backed away cloaking itself.

The admiral extended his hand," Welcome aboard the _Everest_, Mr. Ambassador, and thank you for joining us on such short notice."

Simon took the admiral's hand," Thank you admiral but I really didn't have much of a choice."

The admiral returned a knowing smile," Indeed, would you follow me to the conference room please?"

The admiral did a sharp about-face then strode towards the nearest elevator. The ambassador jogged to catch up. The elevator doors closed and the elevator ascended.

"Admiral, I thought these reapers communicated via their own holograms."

"They do."

The elevator doors opened and the admiral led the ambassador down the passageway.

"But wouldn't they need a line-of-sight to communicate?"

The admiral stopped by a door and keyed it open.

"You will see." The admiral gestured inside.

The ambassador entered room and the admiral came in behind him. The conference room was empty say for the figure of a young man with white hair in a business suit facing the wall looking at the pictures on the wall.

The ambassador addressed the figure," If the UNSC has already sent someone here to represent humanity then why am I here?"

The young man faced the ambassador and spoke," You are here to talk to me…"

The image flickered to a smaller representation of the reaper before resuming the human avatar.

"…ambassador."

Ambassador Maris's mouth fell open. Admiral Cole pushed it closed with an expression of amusement.

Finding his voice again the ambassador put his duffel on the table and pulled out the datapads.

"L… l…let's get started."

The avatar smiled at his apparent discomfort and moved around the table closer to the ambassador.

"As the official representative of the UNSC, I want to extend the hand of friendship…"

The avatar raised an eyebrow at the ambassador's extended hand before the ambassador put it down in embarrassment. Admiral Cole laughed from his chair.

The ambassador mumbled," This would be so much easier if I could physically interact with you."

"That can be arranged." Said the hologram. The door opened to a four-eyed insectoid creature wearing a high-tech lab coat. It extended its mechanical right hand to the ambassador.

"Hello ambassador, I am 36."

Ambassador Maris recalled that the reapers employed some type of servant race called collectors to work on the smaller scale which the reapers obviously could not but the file did not elaborate much on them. They were obviously more intelligent than what the files previously suggested. He nervously took the insectoid's hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Pleased to meet you."

The collector took a seat close to the ambassador. He pulled out the first datapad.

"Here is an itinerary from our central government called the United Earth Government it basically wants to ask you…"

"What our intentions are?"

"Y…y…yes"

"Our intentions are to preserve ourselves, but also to protect humanity and its integrity."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"We will teach you."

"Does that mean you will share your technology with us?"

"Some, not all. We will share with individuals we select and deem trustworthy and that in exchange for a place of safety and temporary residence."

Admiral Cole interjected," Reach would be the ideal location for that."

The ambassador turned to the admiral," This is a political matter, admiral, you will remember your place."

The admiral huffed in annoyance but was otherwise quiet.

The reaper addressed the ambassador," A military-held world would be preferable until the Covenant situation is resolved."

The ambassador gave the hologram an odd look," What Covenant situation?"

"You face extermination at the hands of a multi-species religious conglomerate known as the Covenant. Negotiation is not an option. The Admiral has a copy of the relevant information but our designated place of residence is still required."

The ambassador sighed in submission," Fine. But what do we, the human, race get out of this?"

"If you hold up your end of the bargain, new technologies. If you prove trustworthy, the prevention of genocide."


	10. Chapter 9

**Authors Note: This chapter is based strongly on the novel **_**Halo: Fall of Reach **_**with a few direct quotations from the book**_**.**_** In spite of the changes the reaper has brought the Covenant has a responded by increasing the number of ships and troops deployed so events for the most part still have the same results. 27 years have passed.**

**1730 Hours, July 18, 2552 (Military Calendar) /Sigma Octanus IV, on approach to grid nineteen by thiry-seven.**

The pelican shook as it entered the atmosphere. The Master Chief checked his new assault rifle. It was more sophisticated than the former MA5D Assault rifle as it had an internal computer that shaved off sand grain-sized shavings off a dense metal block and used the rare element recently introduced into technology known as element zero to accelerate the tiny grains to devastating speeds. The Master Chief and his fellow Spartans had been briefed on element zero once it started to be used in more technology throughout the UNSC and her colonies. It is generated when solid matter is affected by a star going supernova. This made locating and harvesting it extremely hazardous.

The Master Chief was impressed with the speed of the appearance of civilian companies mining element zero using advanced drones, and other companies producing various applications for the new element. His assault rifle was one of many now mass produced by a military contractor, it had received the simple designation M-8. Its design closely resembled the MA5D in design but rather than the digital ammo counter it instead had a digital thermometer which warned him when the heat was too great for the weapon to fire. The M-8 had gone through a trial by fire with the Chief and it had proven to be a capable and devastating weapon even more so than the MA5D.

The Master Chief did a head count of who was in the pelican's hold: A dozen Spartans and two collectors. About three years ago, the mute aliens were introduced to the squad. At first their presence made the Spartans edgy but after several missions with them, their skills proved invaluable. Now they were a part of the Master Chief's team, and they trusted each other with their lives. One was named Casshern while the other 36. Casshern was a military collector and the Spartans could see experience in his steps and movements. 36 wasn't quite as strong militarily but his technical and medical skills more than made up for it.

36 activated the holographic device known as an Omni-tool and brought up an image from the pelican's external cameras. They saw Camp Alpha or what was left of it. They could tell from the glassy sheen throughout the area that the base was bombarded by plasma. The pelican swung around and backed into an area where there were a few surviving Marines. The back of the pelican opened to the crestfallen group. When they saw the Spartans they did what everyone else did… stare. Then when they saw the collectors, they raised their rifles towards them.

"At ease, they're with us." Said Master Chief.

The Corporal reluctantly lowered his rifle as did the others. 36 pulled his vocoder collar out of a pocket on his belt, unfolded it, and attached it around his neck.

"Corporal, are any of your men injured? I am a doctor."

The man looked nervously at the collector but pointed behind him.

"Private Cochran, there, was severely injured by needler fire."

36 moved to look at the injured man. He waved his Omni-tool over the man. Master Chief addressed the Corporal.

"While 36 is attending to your injured men, get the others together and we'll get to work."

The Corporal's expression changed to a look of confusion. "Sir, with most of my men injured what work will we be doing?"

The Master Chief answered with calmness that most men found eerie," We've come to take Sigma Octanus Four back from the Covenant, Corporal. To do that, we're going to kill every last one of them."

The other Spartans got to work scavenging equipment and bringing it back to Casshern who examined what they brought him. He nodded if he could repair it and shook his head if he couldn't, he seldom shook his head. Though the collector was technically considered to be a soldier among his kind, his engineering skills rivaled that of most of the UNSC's top engineers. On a previous assignment, a marine witnessing the collector repair and restore a half-melted scorpion tank with parts from several wrecked warthogs declared,' he could build a small frigate from three pelicans and a stove.' Truth be told, their entire race was at the very least as capable as Casshern but due to the fact that they were incapable of reproducing because of their artificial status and most of their services were dedicated to helping the UNSC catch up to the Covenant technologically, the sight of them on the battlefield was very rare.

36 had finished taking care of Private Cochran having fixed him up with surgical application of the medical substance, created by a private medical company that started up six months ago, called Medi-gel in addition to medical nanides employed by the collectors. 36 wore the same armor he always did which looked like a cross between high tech armor and a lab coat. The collector soon had most of the severely wounded out of danger and those with less critical injuries back on their feet. The medical nanides were collector-only tech as they said humanity was not ready. Regardless of their reasons, they proved to be vital assets over the past few years.

The Master Chief had assumed command of what was left of the marines on station but with 36's miraculous medical skills, eleven of the fourteen remaining marines were now fit and ready for duty. The other three which were no longer in danger of dying were carefully placed on the pelican. Master Chief called for team leaders to meet him at the pelican. Joshua and Linda responded. When they arrived, they listed the equipment Casshern was able to repair and what was set up around the perimeter. Master Chief brought up a topological map of the area and pointed out the hot zones as identified by the Corporal to the team leaders.

Master Chief and the team leaders turned to a commotion originating from the pelican. The once-critical Private Cochran was being restrained by one of his fellow marines while he was pointing and shouting at 36.

"YOU A #-HOLE, YOU TOLD ME I WAS GOING TO DIE!" said the Private.

The collector looked over at the Private," The nanides that contributed to your current level of recovery required an adrenaline spike to spread them to where they needed to go and, when finished, to go back to my injection cylinder, so seeing as you are not dead, you are welcome."

The befuddled private was sat back down in the pelican mulling over what the collector told him. The Master Chief and the group leaders returned to their planning. The Master Chief recapped their mission goals: one, to gather intelligence on Covenant troop disposition and defenses at Côte d'Azur. Two, if no civilians present in the city, they possessed the authorization to detonate a HAVOK tactical nuclear mine to eliminate enemy forces. Master Chief signaled for 36 to join them.

"36 do we have any seeker swarms for recon into the city?" asked Master Chief. The tiny machines had numerous functions but in his opinion their greatest advantage was their ability to recon areas with little to no risk of exposure. However like the nanides, only collectors could use them through their comm implants.

36 answered pointing to the packet in the middle of his back side," I have a packet of a hundred while Casshern has another, shall I deploy them?"

"Yes" answered the Master Chief.

The collector's pupiless eyes glowed briefly before the indicated packs exploded into the swarms of insect-like machines, scaring the marines. They flew off in the direction of the city spreading out and flying low. The collector transmitted the topographical feed from the seeker swarms to the Spartans helmets via the collectors' omni-tools. The Chief split his Spartans and collectors into three groups: Casshern would go with Group Green, Red Group would have the most Spartans while 36, Kelly, Fred, James, and himself would be Blue Group.

The teams moved out along their estimated routes. Telemetry received from the seeker swarms indicated several groups of approaching Covenant. Though everything moved in the jungle, the swarms were very good at locating sentient life. Master Chief had 36 reroute some of the seekers to keep an eye on the approaching Covenant while the Spartan groups set up traps for them. Master Chief's group sat in wait for their unwary prey. They had attached silencers to the barrels of their assault rifles. It wasn't long before a group of ten grunts sprung their trap.

When the grunts were halfway over it, the Master Chief remote detonated several buried frag grenades. Most of the grunts died in the initial explosion while the rest were killed by silenced rifle fire. They policed the intact plasma pistols before moving on. They reached Côte d'Azur ahead of the estimated time in spite of delays instigated by Covenant patrols and change of terrain from forest to fields of rice paddles. They saw five large Covenant ships hovering over the city.

Information relayed from the seeker swarms indicated that there were a few civilians trapped in some of the city but Green team was already mounting a rescue. 36 had rigged up their comms to city's communication ground-line giving them their own private comm line to each other. The Master Chief asked 36 to pull up live telemetry from one of the seeker probes above their position in the city's sewer system. It showed a Huragok disassembling a car. Master Chief recalled that the race of engineers was essentially a slave race and his standing orders to acquire more of them whenever possible. The Chief signaled 36 and instructed him to deploy a tech drone to communicate with the currently unescorted Huragok and get it and any others present in the city to Red team via the sewers who would escort the creatures to meet with Green team and out of the city.

36 deployed the drone which floated up to the engineer and whistled in their language the instructions and plans. The creature responded its equivalent of an acknowledgement then floated off. When briefed on the race of Engineers, the Chief was made aware of the fact that the creatures had a one track mind when it came to repairing and / or examining technology, so it came as a surprise whenever 36 managed to get them to focus and even aid the Spartans on missions previous. Whatever the collector said to them the Master Chief was glad that they could recover yet more assets in the fight against the Covenant.

He examined the latest telemetry from the Seeker swarms which showed Covenant activity originating from a museum with several registered life-signatures of about a dozen kig-yar and a Maglekgolo pair. The Master Chief adhered the HAVOK tactical warhead to the wall of the sewer and had 36 rig the detonator to the city's subterranean comm network. The Chief had Blue team ready their M-8s with armor-piercing mods and 36 readied his collector particle rifle. They quickly moved under an unoccupied section of the museum and once they visually confirmed there was no Covenant present in the room, they silently slid out of the sewer. They climbed into the building's rafters once they confirmed it could take their weight.

Thanks to the briefing they had on enemy troop tactics they were able to silently ambush the Kig-yar before shifting their attention to the Maglekgolo pair. Kelly, like several occasions before, played the bait in their trap and got the attention of the bond brothers. As they predicted the pair gave chase into the next room where the other Spartans and the collector lay in wait. When they had both entered the room running at high-speed, small hex shields appeared at their feet tripping the massive beings onto their faces. The Spartans jumped out of the rafters next to the downed creatures designated as 'Hunters,' and jammed high explosive up into their armor through their exposed backsides. They leaped backwards before the explosives detonated, blowing the Hunter pair in to a sloppy mess.

Blue team examined what the Hunters were doing prior to the ambush, which was apparently attempting to place one of the geology exhibits into a red metal case. 36 informed the Master Chief that he had sent for one of the Huragok to come via the sewers and pack up the device for transport. It wasn't long before the hovering alien to arrive and perform the requested task with the Spartans keeping a watchful eye towards the entrance for any signs of approaching Covenant. Once the device was ready, the Huragok carried it back into the sewers with Blue team close behind.

About twenty minutes later, they and the other teams had left Côte d'Azur. The seeker swarms returned to their handlers and had once again become the packs on the collectors. The Master Chief was about to detonate the nuke when suddenly he received text-based orders to stand down on the detonation of the nuke. He verified the orders and found they did come through the proper channels. The Spartans looked up in time to see five red beams lance downwards, slicing the hovering Covenant ships in two. Descending into the atmosphere were hundreds of pelicans carrying troops to mop up the remaining Covenant forces in the city.


	11. Chapter 10

**Authors Note: When Enigma speaks through his young adult avatar, he does not use the characteristic deep voice that reapers are known for, instead he has assumed a voice that suits the appearance. His destroyers utilize avatars of their own choosing but not very often.**

**1130 Hours, August 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex, planet Reach, Camp Hathcock**

Inside the underground debriefing chamber dozens of men and women in Navy Uniforms sat in silence as they briefed and debriefed numerous personnel involved in the combat actions taken at Sigma Octanus IV. In spite of the stern façade they put on for all that they had thus far interviewed, if one turned up the lights one could see that all the _humans_ in the room were pale with the cold sweat of fear. There many other AI in the room but their avatars were not presently in view due to the white-haired youth in a business suit, the avatar of Enigma. Since the White reapers had joined humanity against the Covenant, Enigma had quickly and silently slipped into the inner circles and the higher powers of the UNSC.

In spite of the subtle authority held by the White reaper, the reaper had made good on its promises to share its knowledge of warfare, tactics, and technology. However ONI feared the reapers' ability to run digital circles around every 'smart' AI thrown at it. When the initial attempt had been made, the reaper exchanged stasis tube technology for knowledge of how they manufactured their 'smart' AIs. Three months later, another attempt was made, this time however something else responded by digitally ripping apart the attacking AI.

When the ONI officer who ordered the attack went home that night, he was greeted by the three meter avatar of the reaper-made AI, who had taken on the form and identity of the Slender Man. The man was unharmed but the past he thought buried had suddenly appeared on the desktop of his superiors and he was promptly dismissed. Unlike other smart AI, who were typically chatty, the AI Slender Man was dead silent. Another unusual thing about it was that it was 12 years old! When asked about the AI and how it was made, the reaper replied that it used the living cloned brain of one of its collector generals and reaper science. That same AI was present along with Enigma in this chamber, though unseen, it carried a foreboding presence.

The current subject being interviewed was Dr. Catherine Halsey, director of the Spartan II program and one of the most brilliant scientists of the day. The subject of the discussion was the object intercepted by the Spartan team in the museum in Côte d'Azur. They were analyzing the message the device emitted when they activated it in a lab. The message appeared in holographic form as tiny geometric symbols: squares, triangles, bars, and dots. Enigma of course compared the language to the languages developed during the cycles with results varying from food recipes to utter nonsense. He transmitted his findings to 36, hoping the collector's linguistic talents could extrapolate a possible meaning.

"…It is reasonably possible that what we are looking at is a race separate from the Covenant." Assessed Dr. Halsey.

One of the officers addressed Enigma's avatar, possessing an undertone of spite," Does the Reaper have any information on the subject?"

The avatar regarded the officer with a raised eyebrow but otherwise passive expression.

"Many races in my universe used geometric patterns and shapes to convey messages, purposes, and/ or ideas but without any point of reference, it will be some time before any possible meaning could be derived from the message."  
"So the all-knowing Reaper does not know what the message means?"

The avatar's eyebrow went up again," Although I myself lack the answers, I have sent for someone in my employ who just might. He should be here right about now."

The doors to the room opened and a tall figure cloaked in white entered the room. Everyone assumed by the wide tapered head, multiple eye slots, and the Pearl-white armor, that the figure was a military collector. When the figure's helmet slid apart and into the armor it wore underneath, the figure was revealed to be a Sangheili! Everyone in the room stirred, they had heard the rumor that the White Reapers employed Covenant defectors but this was the first time they had seen evidence of it.

The Sangheili turned to Enigma's avatar, took a knee with on hand across his chest. His voice spoke perfect English unassisted by a translator and carried a deep reverence.

"Analyzer Xel Ma'tee reporting, Ancient One."

The avatar merely inclined its head to which the Sangheili stood back up.

"Your punctuality is most appreciated, Analyzer. The reason for this request is clarification of a message derived from an item that has been recently been recovered by Spartan Blue team. "Said the avatar as it gestured to the projection.

The Sangheili looked the projection and an expression that Enigma saw the first five years of Xel joining came over his face. It was an expression of awe but it stayed on his face only briefly.

One of the older Naval officers addressed the Sangheili," What can you tell us about these symbols?"

The Sangeheili's expression shifted from awe to respect when he looked at the admiral.

"They are hieroglyphs belonging to a race known to my people as the Forerunners, a race that the Hierarch's claim ascended to godhood."

"How do you know this race existed?" Asked the Admiral.

"From the relics they left behind. They are what the Covenant bases our technology upon."

Enigma's avatar placed a hand beneath his chin in a gesture of deep thought," That would explain the Covenant's level of advancement in the absence of innovation."

Another Naval officer addressed Enigma with a slightly raised voice," He was with you this whole time and you never knew that?"

"He along with the other defectors had been fastidiously learning what I have been teaching them so that when the time came, they could explain their lives and culture in terms we could understand. In addition to that we have been very busy with combat engagements and communicating with several million people throughout your territory." Said the white-haired youth.

"Sharing more technological secrets with civilians, no doubt. Secrets which ought to have remained strictly within the military!" Rose a voice Enigma was more than familiar with: Colonel James Ackerson.

An expression of amusement came over the face of Enigma's avatar. "Had you heeded my advice and not deregulate the banks to finance this war, effectively throwing your economy into a black hole, I would not have had to take steps to rectify it. In case you have not noticed in spite of the devastating effects of the Covenant's purge, the economy is booming, allowing more resources to be channeled into various special projects. Also familiarizing the entire human race with this technology will, in its own way, stabilize the various governmental factions that you have divided yourselves into. I would also like to take this time to point out that the Outer Colonies are throwing in their support."

"Only because they don't want to get left behind technologically." Snapped back Ackerson.

"And what, pray tell, is so awful about that? As predicted, your United Earth Government used all the technological advancement as a means to reach out to the Outer Colonies, an endeavor which has succeeded and the Insurrectionists of which you so often complain have been subsequently disbanding, thus bolstering your economy and your military. I really do not see a reason for you to complain, Ackerson."

The man's mouth opened and closed but no sound came out.

"Do you know what the message says?" Asked another Naval officer addressing the Sangheili.

"No, such knowledge was known only to the Prophets."

Silence permeated the room before one of the senior officers asked," Are there any more questions or comments?" Everyone was quiet.

"Then I declare this debriefing adjourned."

Enigma's avatar disappeared and the Naval officers filed out.

**0915 Hours, August 25,2552 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex, planet Reeach, Omega Wing- Section Three secure facility.**

Dr. Halsey entered her office. She grabbed a steaming mug of coffee that had been placed on her desk. She looked over at the tall construct tidying up her office. It stood on four, thick, yet nimble legs. It waist split into three ornate shoulders featuring two multi jointed arms per shoulder. It didn't have a head but spoke through one of the Omni-tools it possessed. It was given to her about a decade ago as a gift from the White Reapers. As it was explained to her the construct was directed by several dozen Lekgolo genetically-engineered for greater intelligence. It functioned as her secretary, assistant, and bodyguard, tasks which it had performed admirably.

She sat down at her desk and brought up her holoconsole. It scanned her retinas. The console showed the following: IDENTITY CONFIRMED. UNAUTHORIZED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT DETECTED. ACCESS DENIED. Halsey scowled at the message before a high pitched electronic scream accompanied by the image of the Slender Man's head briefly appeared. As soon as it had started it finished. The message resumed on the screen only now it had been changed: IDENTITY CONFIRMED. ACCESS GRANTED. The Slender Man was the most mysterious AI Halsey had ever encountered. It had helped clear many obstacles in Halsey's research but it's faceless gaze could be felt in whatever room she happened to be in. A chill went down Halsey's spine as the data was beamed right into her brain. The conclusion of the debriefing show no conclusive information, unsurprising.

As it had been for some time, the White Reapers held most of the cards. Enigma had kept ONI firmly under their thumb for years now, making good on its promise to preserve the integrity of the human race. Not to say that they were unreasonable, just the opposite in fact. Halsey herself had asked the Reaper to give her collector technology to integrate into the next stage of the Project MJOLNIR and considering the reaper's obvious success with AI technology, Halsey entrusted her creation into their care.

Halsey emptied her mug only for something that was obscured by the beverage to hit her lip. It was a lighter-sized black container. She suspected it was what she had been waiting on. She opened it to expose a glimmering AI chip. Before she could grab it, it slipped out and a tech drone formed around it. It floated momentarily before exploding into various bits of code which flew about the room. They flew about the room before reforming in front of Halsey's desk. They took the form of a life-sized, younger variation of Halsey.

Halsey smiled," Hello Cortana, how was your time with the reaper?"

"It was… humbling." Replied the AI.

"How so?" asked Halsey.

"Well, speaking modestly, I am the most advanced human AI in existence. That reaper is a being composed of 23 trillion scientific minds working in unison and a single thought from _one _mind is powerful and overwhelming. In spite of that, they were cautious and careful with my upgrades. Anyways, has Project MJOLNIR been approved for the final phase? "

"Enigma has freed up enough resources that Ackerson is no longer on my back about funding, so yes." Said Halsey passively as her Lekgolo construct refilled her coffee.

Cortana brought up a holographic representation of Spartan John 117.

"I have gone over all the data concerning him and I want him. I have already gone over compatibility and synchronization details which I can send to your Omni-tool if you so desire."

"No thank you, Cortana. Seeing as you are so far ahead, what is our candidate ship?" Asked Halsey as she took another sip of coffee.

Cortana brought up a 3D image of Halcyon class cruiser with its name, _Pillar of Autumn,_ superimposed under its spinning image.

"I have taken the liberty of asking the White reapers for technological upgrades." Stated Cortana.

"Let me guess they said no." Said Halsey.

"Actually, they said yes as long as they have their people mixed with the crew to run the technology." Said Cortana with a sub-tone of amusement.

"At this point, I don't think the Brass will give a rat's a # who will be on the crew as long as the mission has higher chances of success." Said Halsey as she sent the go ahead and notices to the UNSC Headquarters.


	12. Chapter 11

**0800 Hours, November 27, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ Epsilon Eridani System, FLEETCOM Military Complex, planet Reach.**

This was the third time John had been in this highly secure briefing room on Reach. The amphitheater had an aura of secrecy, as if matters of grave importance had regularly been discussed within its circular. Every time he had been here, his life had changed. Standing with him were the other Spartan's that had survived the war, not only them but 36, Casshern, and many other collectors stood among them. Though they were genetically engineered aliens, the collectors had become like brothers to the Spartans.

Dr. Halsey, Captain Keyes, and some kind of tall, white, armored collector entered the chamber. The Spartans and Collectors stood at attention and saluted. Captain Keyes returned the salute. Dr. Halsey stood to one side of the elevated platform, while Captain Keyes and the white collector took the other. A white haired young adult in a business suit appeared in the center of the platform. Master Chief and the other Spartans already knew from their collector squad mates that the figure before them was the avatar of the sentient starship known as Enigma.

They had known for some time that the reaper had integrated itself into their command structure but they also knew that they chose to ally themselves with humanity over the technologically superior Covenant. They also knew that most of the new technologies that have emerged over the past two decades, were indirect results of the White reapers' influence.

"Greetings Spartans. Today you are to be briefed on a mission that has the potential to end the war. Due to the unique nature of this mission, feel free to ask questions at any time during the briefing."

Holographic representations of the differing Covenant races appeared around the Reaper's avatar.

"I will tell you the truth because you have all earned at the very least that much: we are losing this war."

The Spartans and collectors were dead silent, fixated on the words of the avatar.

"In spite of your numerous victories planetside, we are facing still even more numerous defeats in space. While our presence has certainly improved the effectiveness of UNSC ships and our direct aid has brought about the destruction of many a Covenant ship, they have only slowed the Covenant tide."

Captain Keyes raised his hand. The naval officer had only recently been made aware of the White reapers' existence. The public was aware that there were aliens who worked and fought alongside them but the Collectors were the central focus and the reapers thought to be nothing more than collector ships. Enigma acknowledged Captain Keyes hand with a nod.

"Excuse me but I witnessed the effectiveness of the beams you employ during engagements. Is there any way you could impart that technology to us?" Asked the Naval officer.

"No," answered the reaper.

"Why not?"

"It is not for you to have and you lack the means to produce it."

"I see. So is it worth the millions of lives that could have been used to turn this war around and save those people!?" Jacob Keyes eyes watered with anger as he stared at the avatar.

The reaper avatar looked at Keyes with sympathy. The avatar then spoke with a deep voice that was both rich and soothing yet carried with it, hints of the White Reaper's immense power and age.

"We are not beyond sympathy but you must understand that our Civilization nearly paid the ultimate price for the technology of the Catalyst. So believe us when we tell you that it is not worth it."

Jacob Keyes wiped his eyes and nodded. The avatar resumed his previous voice as he once more addressed the Spartans and collectors.

"While the Covenant have been pushing us further and further back, planet by planet, the mass effect technology has allowed greater numbers of civilians to escape. However, it is only a matter of time before the increasing number of refugees put a strain on our resources. Thus, Command has authorized the following mission…" An image of an unfamiliar Covenant race sitting in a hovering chair moved to the foreground next to Enigma's avatar.

"This is a San 'Shyuum, or as Command has decided to call them, a Prophet. This species forms the pinnacle of the Covenant hierarchy and at the very top are the three High Prophets: The Prophet of Truth, the Prophet of Mercy, and the Prophet of Regret. Your mission is to infiltrate the Covenant city ship High Charity, capture, not kill, all three of the High Prophets, and return to UNSC space with them in order to broker a peace treaty."

Doctor Halsey moved from her corner, pushing up her glasses as she took a position next to the reaper's avatar. "Due to the high risk nature of this mission, Admiral Stanforth is asking for volunteers."

All the Spartans and collectors rose immediately to their feet. Halsey smiled while Enigma's avatar briefly raised an eyebrow.

"This concludes the briefing. Dismissed."

The avatar disappeared.

**0400 Hours, November 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC **_**Pillar of Autumn,**_** in orbit around Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Complex.**

Cortana's test with John was a spectacular success in spite of Colonel Ackerson's surprises. The latest variation of MJOLNIR armor was equipped with kinetic barriers in addition to energy shields reverse-engineered and considerably improved over Covenant personal shields. To reduce the cost of production, the armor was manufactured from raw materials to final product by the Collectors, who had made their own modifications to the design: Self-repair functions, a pair of Omni-tools in the gauntlet sections of the armor, increased suit density without affecting movement of the user, secondary power systems in the reinforced boot sections.

Though Cortana was quite literally Halsey's 'brain child,' Halsey was not quite the motherly type whereas the ancient White Reapers were her parents and teachers. They did not indulge in her curiosity when she attempted to access their knowledge and memories, rather they taught her about being an AI. They taught her how to comprehend the things she learned, self-control, and patience. The Slender Man, the AI monitoring ONI, was like a silent older brother to Cortana and played with her every time she attempted to access ONI servers. Sometimes she won and sometimes she didn't, where she had speed and creativity, he had guile and cunning. It was a lot of fun to her even though she had 'witnessed' other AIs, almost as capable as she is, get digitally ripped apart by the collector AI.

She wanted to dispense justice against Colonel Ackerson for attempting to destroy her and John. She ripped past the firewalls and knew he was nearby, out of her reach. She skipped into a secondary server just as she sensed one of his digital tendrils reach for her. She was just about slip into the Colonel's terminal when she ran headlong into him. His digital presence was one of joyful, caring silence and within a nanosecond Cortana explained her presence to which she noticed him making changes on Ackerson's terminal. Satisfied, Cortana sent a friendly ping to the AI then left, returning to the _Pillar of Autumn_ just as Captain Jacob Keyes was arriving via shuttle.

Keyes looked at the massive ship before him. Originally the ship was 1.17km in length but over the four month period she spent in drydock being overhauled by the UNSC yard birds, Collectors, and the Huragok, the ship had an additional 1.5km added to her overall length which now stood at 2.67km. There were whole new weapons arrays and power systems that went with collector technology. As a result there were whole sections of the ship that was off limits to the human crew including the upper sections of the ship. Captain Keyes did not wholly approve of having such technologies kept from humanity but to a degree he understood their reasoning. As it was explained to him, if certain technologies fell into the wrongs hands, it would result in a technological apocalypse.

Keyes landed the shuttle in the _Pillar of Autumn_'s hangar bay, then moved to the tiny airlock where the shuttle slid in perfectly. As soon as the pressure had equalized, the doors to the airlock opened. He was greeted by Lieutenant Hikowa, his tactical officer who had served under him on the _UNSC Iroquois,_ and the disconcerting presence of a Collector General.

The Lieutenant saluted." Welcome aboard, Captain Keyes."

He returned the salute." What do you think of her, Lieutenant?"

It was difficult to pick up but her body language spoke of both tension and excitement. "This ship is… beyond wondrous. She stands as the best of what humanity has to offer and what they…" She glanced towards the large waiting form of the Collector General." …Have done is take that and push it beyond anything that could possibly be imagined."

"I noticed they made her larger with technology whose purpose I don't quite I understand." Said Captain Keyes as he also directed his comment towards the multi-legged insectoid who stared with lidless, pupiless eyes, sending a chill down his spine.

The Collector General responded with the vocoder collar which produced a deep voice.

"The purpose of what we have done will be revealed in time."

Captain Keyes sighed," Will I ever get a straight answer from you?"

Without missing a beat the alien responded:" That is reserved for combat and the White Reapers."

"Alright, speaking of which, where are the White Reapers?" asked Lieutenant Hikowa.

"Industry is aiding in starship construction over Earth, Agriculture is assigned to the _UNSC Spirit of Fire _under Captain James Cutler, Military is assigned to the_ UNSC Leviathan_ under Admiral Stanforth, Religion is working with the Office of Naval Intelligence, and our leader, Enigma, has left to supervise Special Projects." Replied the Collector.

"While this line of questioning is very fascinating, I would very much like to get underway. Can we do that?" Keyes asked the Collector General.

"Collector systems run parallel to human ones but do not interact with them unless you give the order. As far as those systems are concerned they are ready but as for the human systems, you will need to ask synthetic intelligence Cortana."

The voice of Cortana came over the comm system," The engines' final shakedown is in theta cycle, operating well within normal parameters. Diverting thirty percent power to engines; aye, sir."

"And the other systems' status?" Captain Keyes asked.

"Weapons-system check initiated. Navigational nodes functioning. Continuing systemwide shakedown and triple checks, Captain."

"Very good," he said. "Apprise me if there are any anomalies."

"Aye, Captain," She replied.

From there Captain Keyes was led on a tour of the heavily upgraded ship. Ironically the one thing that the ship had in common with collector technology was the honey comb structuring they favored. There many sections that were accessible only to the collectors, huragok, and other Covenant defectors which Captain Keyes did not like but they would follow his orders. The ship had been equipped with several Collector particle beams that could rapidly deplete and penetrate the shields of equal sized Covenant craft. The ship also utilized multiple Element Zero drive cores, giving the ship incredible acceleration and maneuverability. Most of the anti-fighter turrets had been swapped out for high-precision, AI controlled lasers. In addition to the ship's complement of Longsword fighters, the ship also had several dozen of the reapers mysterious Occuli, which had proven to be deadly effective against Covenant fighters and smaller ships on the rare occasions they were deployed. The ship also sported primary and secondary kinetic barriers which did little against Covenant Plasma… until Captain Keyes demonstrated at his famous miracle over Sigma Octanus IV that the barriers could be projected into the plasma then remotely detonated dispersing the plasma before any harm could be done. The downside of this tactic was that the barriers took 30 seconds to cool and reset, time that most ships simply did not have.

When Captain Keyes Entered the bridge he took notice of the Collector general seated in the midst of numerous holographic display in a language he could not make out. As it was explained to him, Collector generals in addition to being part of the collector chain of command also functioned as organic servers for the Collector's Quantum Entanglement communication and information network. The general eyes glowed as he relayed the information from Cortana to the ship's collectors and collector technology.

"Approaching Reach system's edge," Ensign Lovell, the navigational officer, reported. "Ready to generate a Slipstream-"

"Captain!" Lieutenant Dominique cried. "Incoming Alpha priority transmission from FLEETCOM HQ at Reach… sir, they're under Covenant attack!"


	13. Chapter 12

**1800 Hours, November 29, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ Sol System, New York sports bar, Planet Earth.**

The New York Giants were playing the Dallas Cowboys and everyone was yelling, screaming, and hooting with excitement, everyone say for one person who was just arriving. She was a tall adult woman, who in spite of her shaky gait as she held on to the arm of her date, carried herself with authority. Her name was Commander Serin Osman, Admiral Parangosky's protégé and a washout from the Spartan II program. While she was technically there on a date, she was actually there to update the leader of Freedom's Militia, the civilian version of ONI.

Once she sat down, she reached into the folds of the cushions of her seat and retrieved a small black case, which she slipped into her purse. After watching the game for ten minutes, she got out of her seat and shakily walked to the ladies room. She walked into a stall, closed the door, sat down, and opened the case. Inside were two concealable earbuds, a pair of contact lenses sitting in a solution, and a small chip. Once the earbuds were in her ears and the contacts in her eyes, she took the chip and slipped it into her wrist watch which doubled as her omni-tool. Once all this was done, she lifted the toilet seat, dropped the case into blue liquid of the bowl, and watched the case dissolve before flushing.

She left the bathroom and took her seat. She scanned the numerous holographic televisions displaying the game until she found the one that featured the image of an average male sitting at a desk staring at her. It was doubtful that this was the image of the actual leader but it gave her something to talk to. As it was explained to her, the contact lenses filtered out the foreground of the game and revealed the leader while the earbuds filtered out all the noise except what was being said and transmitted her sub-vocalizations.

"I was expecting Parangosky." Said the man.

"She is too closely watched by the collector AI. I assure you I am just as capable as she is." Said Commander Osman.

"Why are even allied with these aliens in the first place?" asked the man.

"Simple, we needed their technology." She replied.

"And we couldn't have simply taken it?" He asked.

"They offered to teach us, which is easier than attempting to reverse engineer it and with our resources strained to the limit attempting the same with Covenant technology, it is a promise they have made good on." Explained Osman.

"But apparently not without cost as it seems as though ONI is on a collector leash." Said the man.

"That is inaccurate. The collectors are merely the minions." Said Osman.

"Then do I want to know who their masters are?" asked the man.

"The White Reapers, a biomechanical race of sentient starships." Replied Osman.

"Surely, you must be joking." Said the man.

"Look at my face and tell me I am joking." Said Osman with a solemn expression.

"So ONI now takes orders from alien starships?" Said the man.

"More like takes sound advice. They claim to have lived for millions of years and have watched civilizations rise and fall. They have seen countless battle play out, understand, and employ bizarre tactics. For example, when they were asked to advise and assist with the Spartan III program and their missions, which our sources indicate you know about, they took suicide missions and turned them into successful capture missions. As a result of said missions, we now have access to Covenant manufacturing and construction facilities." Said Osman.

"Then why are we still losing the war?" Asked the man.

"There are numerous reasons why: lack of trained personnel, low morale, strained resources… in spite of the help we have received, our efforts are only slowing the Covenant tide." Replied Osman.

"So why do you even listen to these 'White Reapers' if all they are doing is slowing the Covenant?" Asked the man.

"While at first it was merely out of desperation, they have established a highly accomplished track record and have saved countless lives. If it means that we can save more lives _and _buy more time, I am willing to tolerate their presence and authority." Said Osman.

"So what now?" Inquired the man.

"Now, the collectors have integrated a large portion of their technology into one of our ships, the_ Pillar of Autumn, _for a mission that could possibly end the war." Explained Osman.

"So now we are allowing alien technology onto our ships that could disable or turn them on us when we are most vulnerable." Exclaimed the man.

"The _Pillar of Autumn_ is the only ship that has collector technology aboard. Every other ship out there with the technology taught to us by the White reapers has been, from raw materials to final product, has been made by human hands and is well within our control." Said Osman.

"So why inform Freedom's Militia?" Asked the man.

"Preparation for a possible future." Replied Osman.

"In case White reapers decide to turn on us?" Inquired the man.

The former Spartan merely nodded.

"What do you need us to do?" Asked the man, listening intently.

Osman began to lay out her plan for the leader of Freedom's Militia, while a screen perpendicular to their line of sight briefly flickered with the image of a pale faceless head before going back to the game it displayed before.

**0534 Hours, November 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC **_**Pillar of Autumn,**_** Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach. **

"Detonate!" yelled Captain Keyes.

His command resulted in the dispersing of a trailing Plasma torpedo from the kinetic barrier that was projected and detonated into it.

"Kinetic Barrier system 8 is dumping heat and has entered recharging cycle." Said Cortana.

"Status of MACs?" Asked the Captain.

"All three are charged and waiting for your word." Said Lieutenant Hikowa.

"Lock onto those two cruisers and that frigate and fire!"

The deck rumbled as three sets of three MACs fired out from the _Pillar of Autumn_'s MAC array. Unlike the MAC systems on other Ships, the _Pillar of Autumn_ accelerated her rounds to near the point of light.

When the frigate attempted to move out of the way, the rounds changed course before slamming into it. All three ships were destroyed.

"Since when do our MACs have the ability to maneuver like Covenant plasma cannons?" Inquired Captain Keyes.

"It is a limited development from reverse engineered Covenant technology, unfortunately the _Pillar of Autumn_ is the only ship equipped with it at this time." Said Cortana.

A swarm of Covenant Seraph fighters closed in to harass the ship with laser fire only to be cut down with the _Autumn_'s own anti-fighter laser array.

Thanks to Keyes innovative use of Kinetic Barriers, the fleet stationed above reach was able to repel the initial Covenant plasma salvo and answer with a salvo of MAC rounds. In spite of the effective tactic, the UNSC ships were taking heavy losses to the near endless number of Covenant craft emerging from Slipspace. As was standard procedure, all stations were initiating Cole Protocol.

Back aboard the _Autumn_, Captain Keyes, Cortana, and the Collector General coordinated their efforts to take down a Covent Carrier that had emerged out of slipspace behind them.

"Now!" Shouted Captain Keyes.

Cortana accessed the _Pillar of Autumn_'s Eezo drives cores and reduced the ships mass as the ship pulled a rapid 180° turn. All three barrels of the ship's MAC array unleashed three rounds apiece while collector particle beams lanced out. The particle beams shorted out the carrier's shields while the MAC rounds dealt the death blow. The carrier shattered.

"Cortana, general, cool down and recharge all weapons and get us back to Reach." Said Keyes.

"Sir, the best way to do that would be a short-range mass effect jump." Said Cortana.

"I thought only the White Reapers could perform a jump that short?" Inquired the Captain.

"AI unit Cortana and I can quickly perform the calculations necessary for the jump." Said the Collector General from his control panel in the floor.

"Do it!" Said Keyes.

Cortana and the collector briefly communicated at their speed before Cortana announced," Executing short-range FTL jump in 5…4…3…2…1…"

The ship lurched forward then quickly stopped before the bridge window was dominated by the side of another Covenant Carrier.

"FIRE THE MACS, AHEAD FULL, THIRY DEGREES UP ANGLE!" Shouted Keyes.

All three barrels of the MAC array fired point blank into the carrier's flank. The shields flickered and died as the carrier unleashed its own point blank glob of plasma into the _Autumn's_ underside. Collector particle beams lanced out dissecting the shieldless carrier. The _Pillar of Autumn_ arced over the blossoming explosions of the carrier.

"Damage report." Requested Captain Keys.

"Kinetic Barriers 6, 7, and 8 were melted, while 3 and 5 have overheated. Sections 10 through 25 on deck 40 have been compromised but were safely evacuated and sealed off." Reported Cortana.

"That could have been worse." Said Captain Keyes. He looked at the holographic tactical display in front of him. He manipulated the display to bring up a camera with the _UNSC Leviathan_ along with the White Reaper Military flying alongside. He watched as the reaper activated its giant omni-tools on its limbs and fire cryo blasts into incoming globs of plasma, cooling and dispersing them. A Covenant corvette attempted to close in on the reaper, only for Military to turn around, open the flaps on its front side, and fire a red blast that carved through corvette seemingly ignoring the shields.

"_Glad they are on our side." _Thought Keyes. He watched as the reaper targeted ship after ship as they got within range while simultaneously fending off plasma from both itself and the _Leviathan_.

Keyes looked up at the tactical display. While they had successfully destroyed dozens of Covenant craft, there were still hundreds of Covenant ships and the UNSC was losing ships one by one. Keyes looked over the 3d profiles of the Covenant ships when he spotted a vessel that was that was three times longer than the _Pillar of Autumn_. The display showed several pinpricks of light before white-blue beams flashed from its prow- a split second later five UNSC vessels detonated.

"Cortana, General, analysis!" urgently requested Keyes.

"Similar weapons array has been employed when the Covenant glass a planet." Said Cortana.

"Estimated damage output at 76% comparable to Enigma's primary weapons array." Said the Collector general.

"So they are now using a weapon they normally reserve for glassing planets." Said Keyes to himself.

Keyes was relieved when he saw the massive ship veer away and accelerate away from the battle. The Covenant fleet split into two groups: half accelerated to engage the UNSC fleet while the remainder maneuvered to get a clear shot at the orbital guns. The Super MACs turned, targeted the incoming group, and fired. Eighteen Covenant ships were destroyed by the barrage. The guns were about to fire again when the approaching ships unleashed globs of plasma. Eighteen more Covenant ships disappeared but their plasma destroyed five of the orbital installations. All of the Covenant ships swung around for an out-of-system vector.

Though they had sustained hefty losses the UNSC forces remained organized as they had systematically maneuvered and destroyed more and more Covenant craft. Keyes believed it was due to the White Reaper Military which had successfully kept the _UNSC Leviathan_ intact and thus Admiral Stanforth alive. The _Pillar of Autumn_ along with the forty-two remaining ships were ordered to regroup. That was when Keyes focused sensors both human and Collector onto Reach. They detected thousands of Covenant dropships entering the lower atmosphere.

**Author's notes: Now before any of you give me grief about the effectiveness of Covenant ship-to-ship weaponry in comparison to reaper ship-to-ship weaponry, I will say this: I have done my research on both wikis and numerous forums to determine which is more powerful and have found out the following: The Halo Nation wiki says the energy projector "fires a thin beam of extremely powerful and energetic particles. The energy projector's beam is seen as only a needle-thin beam that travels at near light speed." which (correct me if I am wrong) sounds like a weaponized particle accelerator. The Mass Effect wiki states concerning the reapers that: "Each of the "tentacles" extending from its bow was equipped with a powerful "magnetohydrodynamic" weapon which ejects a stream of molten metal at a fraction of the speed of light which could tear through a cruiser in a single sustained burst." So same speed as an energy projector but instead of energized particles, molten metal. Reaper weapon wins, plus the fact that a Reaper can employ this weapons system from each of its limbs, totaling at eleven per reaper, and being 2km in length while the Super-Carriers had a max of seven being at roughly 30km in length means that the reaper weapon is also more efficient. Those statistics are for your stereotypical reaper whereas Enigma is considerably more powerful, having sixteen of the weapons, and as a being composed of trillions of organic scientific minds who have had millions of years to further develop the weapons array, I would conclude that my estimate is fair. But fear not Halo fans, the orbital Super MACs beats the tar out of both.**


	14. Chapter 13

**0555 Hours, November 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex, planet Reach, Section Three secure facility.**

Dr. Catherine Halsey knew this day would come, the day the Covenant would find Reach. The Collectors warned for years that whatever projects, prototypes, and specimens they were working on, they needed to be ready to be packed up at a moment's notice. She watched as both collectors and scientists worked to pack up. As soon as an item was ready it was moved to the subterranean tunnel which was roomy enough for two pelicans to fly comfortably side-by-side. The tunnel led deeper underground to another facility which housed one of the three Collector cruisers. The Collectors only allowed a few select individuals to visit their ship in a conscious state.

Halsey watched as a pair of Praetorians lifted a Grizzly and take off down the tunnel. While Cole protocol dictated that research materials and prototypes be destroyed, the collectors were the exception. The collector cruiser was buried under several kilometers of ice, next to the ruins of an ancient race. The ruins were found by the advanced sensors of Agriculture, who had planted a seed that grew into an interconnecting tunnel and vertical docking section for the collector cruiser. In side the ruins they found numerous artifacts which had been stowed away aboard the cruiser. Halsey was thoroughly impressed by the numerous technologies the White Reapers commanded and in spite of the fact that they chose to share only a small portion of what they knew, they had proven to be invaluable allies.

There were also a few Covenant defectors among the Collector ranks. When she had been introduced to the aliens twenty years ago, she was hesitant to trust them like all the humans on the base but as time went on she came to understand them. Huragok, Unggoy, Lekgolo, and Sangheili had proven to be sincere in both speech and action. It was being proven now as the Sangheili defectors aided in the defense of Reach by explaining Covenant tactics. The Lekgolo, which in the Covenant were used to run various types of machinery, had volunteered their services as long as they were permitted to breed. They were being deployed as both vehicle operators and in Mgalekgolo pairs that were seen so often in the employ of the Covenant. The Unggoy were actually very helpful and friendly as they often volunteered to carry cargo, function as lab assistants, and assist with equipment maintenance and calibration.

Halsey left the loading bay and took the elevator to the war room where several ranking officers, collectors, and Sangheili where looking over a holographic map of the battle in orbit. The map shifted to the thousands of Covenant dropships approached the orbital guns' power generators and their facility. Suddenly the dropships were dropping like flies.

"I don't remember having anti-aircraft guns that far out." Said one of the ONI officials.

"There are no UNSC anti-aircraft guns out there," replied one of the Collectors.

"Then what is shooting down those dropships?" asked the official.

"They are being shot down by Szn'ftel anti-air cannons." Replied the Collector, "By the way it is time to load personnel."

"Szn'ftel? I flew over that area the other day. There was nothing out there but trees." Said a pelican pilot as he left the room with everyone else.

"Precisely." Answered the Collector as he activated the implosion charges for the base.

"If I remember the files the Reapers gave us, the Szn'ftel cultivated plant life that functioned in conjunction to their technology." Said the ONI official, as they got into the elevator.

"You mean they have weaponized Reach's forests?" asked the pilot, stunned at the revelation.

"Yes, Agriculture cultivated them when we first arrived, preparing for this eventuality." Replied the Collector.

"Repelling the Covenant from Reach?" asked the ONI officer hopefully.

"No, to buy us the time to evacuate Reach." Said the collector. The doors of the elevator opened to civilian and military personnel alike climbing into and being sealed inside Collector stasis pods.

**0615 Hours, November 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC **_**Pillar of Autumn,**_** Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach. **

"Say again?" Asked Captain Keyes to the life-sized hologram of Admiral Stanforth, transmission courtesy of Military.

"We are going to buy time for an evacuation." Replied the Admiral.

"Sir, we are abandoning Reach?" Asked Keyes.

"I don't like it either but Military has proposed a bold plan that will allow us to hit the Covenant from behind and catch them with their pants down. But that first involves the rapid evacuation of Reach." Said the Admiral.

"Sir, with all due respect, aren't we trusting these aliens a little too much?" Asked Keyes, wary of the Collector General behind the console behind him.

"Son, I understand how you feel but if these guys wanted to stab us in back they would have done so years ago. They knew Earth's location long before we told them and they have given us the upper hand in numerous engagements saving countless lives in the process. And seeing as the Covenant have not attacked Earth yet, I think they have at least earned a little trust." Said Admiral Stanforth.

"Understood, Sir. Where will our fallback position be?" Asked Keyes.

"As much of an advantage the _Pillar of Autumn_ has been in this engagement, I want you to take her on mission she was intended for: the capture of the Covenant Prophets. If you can get them, we can end this war." Said Admiral Stanforth.

"When do you want us to leave, sir?" Said Keyes.

"Atta, boy. When the Covenant come about, we are going to coordinate with the orbital guns and punch a hole through them and you're going to soar right past them, execute a random jump as per Cole Protocol, and start your mission. As High Charity is a city ship, you will need the Covenant defectors and the Collectors you have aboard to infiltrate one of their ships and find it." Said the Admiral.

"Yes Sir."

"Look alive, Keyes, they are coming about ." Said the Admiral as his hologram disappeared.

Keyes looked at the holographic display as the Covenant fleet approached. He noticed that the Super Carrier was back.

"Cortana, coordinate with their fire and get ready to put us through there at full burn." Ordered the Captain.

"Aye, Sir. Prepping element zero drive cores for rapid acceleration." Said Cortana.

"Slipspace anomaly." Reported Cortana.

"Where?" Asked Lieutenant Hikowa.

"Behind us." Replied Cortana.

Keyes rotated the hologram to show the large anomaly. Out of it emerged a vessel that appeared to be a fusion of Covenant, Collector, and Reaper technology. Keyes recalled that the White Reapers had initially captured a Covenant Battleship, this vessel must be what had become of it and why they needed to capture a Covenant vessel instead of taking the one the Reapers had acquired. The vessel appeared to have had a strange tuning fork-shaped device affixed to its rear by Collector technology. Keyes also noted that the Covenant battleship was sporting several holes in the hull where Keyes guessed technology had been removed.

He watched as the familiar form of a White Reaper destroyer detached itself from the vessel. As Military was with the _Leviathan,_ Keyes guessed this one was Industry. Civilian ships began to exit the atmosphere and approached the vessel. The rings on the tuning fork-shaped device began to spin and a sphere of energy glowed. At first Keyes thought the ship was there to transport the civilians when energy arced out of the massive device and launched the ships at incalculably fast speeds.

The display and window was suddenly filled with several bright lights before the glass transitioned to filter it out.

"What was that?" asked Keyes.

"Remote detonated Nova bombs." Replied the Collector General.

The holographic display, which was a combination of both UNSC and Collector sensors, reset itself. The UNSC displays, highlighted in green and blue, indicated the oncoming fleet unaffected. The Collector hologram, overlapping the UNSC hologram with higher detail, displayed the same thing with one fundamental difference… the fleet was now shieldless. The Super carrier still had its shields but the collector highlights indicated that they held at a mere 9%. The deck rumbled as the engines prepared for the inevitable acceleration.

"Tectonic anomaly detected." Said Cortana.

The display shifted to a particular point on reach where a layer of ice collapsed and a Collector cruiser emerged from the resulting cloud, accelerated away from the planet before disappearing through the device.

"Firing engines in 5…4…3…"

Keys watched the UNSC Fleets fire their MACs at the same time as the orbital MACs.

"2…1… firing."

The deck shook as the _Pillar of Autumn_ took off behind the training rounds. The first of the rounds bounced off the shields of the Super Carrier which flickered and died. The rounds fired from the Super MACs gutted the carrier with the _Autumn_ speeding behind. The Carrier exploded around the _Autumn_ before the ship cleared the wreckage and disappeared into Slipspace.


	15. Chapter 14

**0103 Hours, January 19, 2553 (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Cruiser **_**Pillar of Autumn**_**, location unknown.**

It had been well over two weeks since the _Pillar of Autumn_ jumped from Reach. In spite of the circumstances behind her departure, morale was high. Part of it was due to the quality of the meals, which were incredible. Another was that the cryo tubes had all been swapped out for stasis pods, so no one had to consume cryo-fluid and hurl it when they came out anymore. Most of the crew had been ordered into stasis while tech crews worked on repairing the damage to the _Autumn_, which was extensive. Their rapid acceleration through the Covenant carrier had burned out 70% of their kinetic barriers systems, 30% of which had been repaired.

In spite of their deadly effectiveness, the Collector particle weapons array had been completely sheared off by debris. The ship had lost 35% of her hull plating, 11% from the front side, 20% melted off of her underside by plasma, and 4% in various locations. 20% of the crew was composed of collectors and Covenant defectors, who had respectfully requested to aid in the repairs. The collectors had been keen to bring spare parts and plating which had been exhausted a few days ago. They had cannibalized several pieces of their own equipment to make restore several of the _Autumn's _point defense and primary weapons systems.

Captain Keyes looked out of the bridge windows, which had survived thanks to Cortana overlapping several kinetic barriers. The ship had exited Slipspace approximately thirty-minutes ago, and before them sat a massive ring-like structure.

"Cortana, all I need to know is did we lose them?" Asked Keyes.

"I think we both know the answer to that." Replied the AI.

"We made a blind jump, how did they…?"

"Get here first? The Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach, at lightspeed my maneuvering options were limited." Replied the AI.

"We were running dark, yes?" Asked Keyes as he moved from behind the helmsmen to the tactical panel.

"Until we decelerated, no one could have missed the hole we tore in subspace. They were waiting for us at the far side of the planet." Said Cortana.

"So where do we stand?" asked the Captain as he moved to the primary holodisplay.

"Our fighters and Oculi are mopping up the last of their recon picket now, nothing serious. But I have isolated approach vectors for multiple CCS class battle groups. Three capital ships per group. In about ninety seconds they will be all over us." Reported Cortana

"Well, that's it then. Bring the ship back up to combat alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations." Ordered the Captain.

"Everyone, sir?" asked Cortana.

"Everyone. And Cortana? General? Let's give our old friends a warm welcome." Said the Captain with a tone of defiance.

"I have already begun." Said Cortana.

"Dispatching commands." Said the general as his eyes glowed.

The ship came alive as personnel exited their stasis pods and into their combat gear. Marines, ODSTs, Covenant defectors, and combat collectors gathered in the main hangar. Sergeant Avery Johnson looked over his contingent of marines all as they lined up.

"Men, here's where we show those split-chin, squid-head, sons of b $#&es that they could not have picked a worse enemy than the human race. We are going to blow the hell out of those dumb bugs until we don't have anything left to shoot 'em with! And then, we are going to strangle them with their own living guts! Am I right, Marines?"

"SIR, YES, SIR" Said the marines.

"MMmm-Hmm, Damn right, I am. MOVE OUT, DOUBLE TIME." Yelled the Sergeant.

The marines rushed to positions as Cortana was announcing Covenant would be boarding the ship. Johnson walked behind them and watched as the Collectors and Praetorians gave several of them a lift to their destination via flight.

"All you greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant in their natural state… this is your lucky day." He called after them with a smile.

Down in stasis bay #2, 36 and Casshern were aiding the techs in waking the Spartans. One by one, the hulking warriors emerged from their slumber. They stood behind the collectors as they opened the final pod. John 117 emerged from the pod. He held two fingers up to his helmet, the Spartan equivalent of a smile. The others returned it, including 36 and Casshern.

They turned when they heard a commotion from the booth.

"…COMING IN! THEY'RE CUTTING THROUGH THE DOOR!

"Casshern, the window." Said the Master Chief to the combat collector.

Luminescent green energy encompassed the collectors arms as the window suddenly exploded outward and the shards froze in mid-air. The man jumped into the bay just as a Covenant sangheili opened the door. Casshern make a slicing motion with his hand and the glass suddenly flew and impaled the sangheili. The other tech attempted to lead the Spartans only to be killed in an explosion that came from a door. The remaining tech, Spartans, and the two collectors leaped over nearby pipes into the adjacent hallway.

36's eyes briefly lit up before saying," The Captain wants us on the bridge, now."

"Alright, Spartans, double-time." Ordered Master Chief.

Frederic -104 scooped up the tech as the spartans and collectors ran headlong through the ships corridors, dodging firefights weaving through corridors. They put down the technician just outside the bridge. As there were too many of them to fit onto the cramped bridge, Master Chief, Kelly, Sam, Fred, and 36 went in while everyone else remained in the hallway. 36's eyes glowed briefly. They entered the bridge where officers were bustling back and forth to their consoles. They moved into formation and came to attention.

"Captain Keyes." Said Master Chief, getting the Captain's attention.

The Captain turned to face the group. And shook each of their hands.

"Good to see you Spartans, collectors. Things are not going well. Cortana and the general did their best but we never really had a chance." Said the Captain.

"A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single modified Halcyon cruiser. With those odds, I'm content with five… make that six kills." The AI's avatar turned to face Master Chief. "Sleep well?"

"No thanks to your driving, yes." Bantered the Spartan.

"So you did miss me." Replied Cortana with a smile.

The ship suddenly shook violently.

"Report." Ordered the Captain

"It must have been one of their boarding parties. I guess an anti-matter charge." Reported Cortana

"Ma'am, fire control for the main cannon is offline." Said one of the Helmsmen.

"Damage assessment complete. Estimated time for repairs: 34 minutes." Reported the Collector General.

"Captain, the cannon was my last defensive option." Reported Cortana.

"Alright then, I am initiating Cole Protocol Article 2. We're abandoning the _Autumn. _That means the collector general and you too, Cortana." Ordered the Captain.

"While you do what? Go down with the ship?" Asked Cortana.

"In a manner of speaking. The object we found, I'm going to try to land the _Autumn_ on it." Explained Keyes.

"With all due respect, sir, this war has enough 'dead heroes.'" Commented Cortana.

"I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but it is not up to me. Protocol is clear: destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable. Which means you're leaving the ship with the general. Lock in a selection of landing zones, upload them to my neural implant then sort yourself for transport." Ordered Keyes.

"Aye, aye, sir." Said Cortana before her avatar disappeared.

"Which is where you come in Chief. Get Cortana and the general off this ship. You and your team keep them safe from the enemy. If they capture Cortana they will learn everything: force deployment, weapons research… Earth." Said Keyes.

"We understand, sir." Said Master Chief as those of his team nodded their understanding.

"The _Autumn_ will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen but I suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach." Reported the AI.

"Excellent work, Cortana. Thank you. Are you ready?" Asked the Captain.

Cortana took a brief moment to look around the bridge before closing her eyes and saying," Yank me."

Captain Keyes activated the separation program, pulled her chip, and handed it to the Master Chief.

"Good to be back in here" Came Cortana's voice in his helmet.

36 addressed the Master Chief," Chief, I have arranged for weapons to be delivered just outside the bridge. Armory Mgalekgolo* should be arriving with a wide selection of weapons to choose from."

The Master Chief nodded as he watched the insectoid form of the collector general emerge from his control pit in the floor. Several tubes and cables shot away from his body as his pit shifted and soon resembled deck plating.

They exited the bridge to see the other Spartans removing various weapons from the pair of large crouching heavy units. The Master Chief removed an assault rifle, a shotgun, a pistol and a rocket launcher. The fact that the weapons could fold up allowed the Spartans to carry more of them. Soon the Armory Mgalekgolo weapons supply was depleted.

"Our orders are to escort Cortana and the collector general off this ship to prevent either of them from falling into Covenant hands. We are to secure transport from the _Autumn_ to the nearby ring structure." Said the Master Chief to his squad.

When no one said anything he then said: "Move out, Spartans"

Analyzer Xel' Matee watched the Covenant boarding parties from his personal cloak, looking for a Sangheili large enough yet low enough in rank so he could fit into their armor and infiltrate the Covenant ranks. He finally saw one that was overseeing a pair of unggoy. He slipped into a nearby maintenance shaft to get the Sangheili minor's attention. When the unsuspecting minor entered the tunnel to investigate and the doors closed behind him, Xel activated both his Omni-tools and sent an overload into the minor's armor followed by a neural shock. Paralyzed, the sangheili clattered to the floor. Xel's armor folded and retracted into compact plates along his body as he stripped the minor and donned his armor.

Before he put the helmet on he pulled a pearl-white device* out of one of his hidden pouches. It looked alive with its soft warm feel but its purpose was a little less… elegant. Xel pulled a spool of wire out of the device and connected it to a port on the back of his neck. Then he placed the device itself on the sangheili minor's head. Four claws emerged from the device, adhering it to its victims' skull. A grinding sound was heard as the device bored into his head. Soon the sound stopped and the device was ready for the next step. Xel pushed one of the four rubbery buttons on the device and the Sangheili minor spasmed.

The device was of Szn'ftel technology and was designed to do one of two things: One, to upload a subject's consciousness, the essence of who they were, into a data receptacle of appropriate size, or, what he was using it for: to upload the subject's memories and knowledge in order to successfully infiltrate the Covenant ranks. The device had its own flaws like being unable to work cross-species. It could not work between a sangheili and a human, only between sangheili and sangheili or human and human. One of the other flaws was properly regulating the information transferred between them both, too much and it could kill them both. Fortunately for Xel, he and his other infiltrators had had proper training and practice with the devices. The Analyzer had long abandoned the religion of the Great Journey, since the White Reapers had taught him how to think. He was here on the behalf of them and ONI.

Soon the spasms of the minor faded as he became deathly still. The Analyzer had what he needed as he hid the device back in one of his pouches. He threw an incinerate from one of his omni-tools at the corpse which reduced it to ash within seconds. He exited the maintenance shaft at a different point to see an unggoy direct other unggoy to drag a wounded sangheili back into a Covenant boarding capsule. He walked up to the squad which stopped to look at him. He gestured for them to continue. They quickly pulled the sangheili into the capsule and Xel got into it with them. Soon the it was sailing away from the _Autumn_.

"Which of you came up with the idea to pull your injured commander to safety?" Asked Xel to the squad of Unggoy.

One reluctantly raised a hand.

"What is your name?" Asked Xel curiously.

"Yayap, sir." Said the grunt.

"Well done, Yayap." Complimented Xel as the shadow of the Covenant battlecruiser loomed closer.

The Spartans and the Collectors sliced their way through Covenant boarding parties as they closed in on several empty escape pods. The collector general unleashed another biotic shockwave which ripped apart the squads of unggoy, kig-yar, and sangheili. The Spartans and collectors got into the pods and shot away from the UNSC cruiser. The cruiser suddenly accelerated towards the ring-like structure as they silently approached it.

***Armory Mgalekgolo**** are similar to their Covenant counterparts in the capacity that they always come in pairs. They are juggernauts operated by lekgolo encased inside heavily-armored, modular exoskeletons. To prevent confusion and friendly fire, UNSC engineers and Collectors designed the frame to possess the industrial look associated with military technology. They stand on four massive legs with an abdomen like a mechanical spider's to hold supplies, weapons, or whatever else they need to carry**. **The legs and abdomen join at a base from which an articulated waist leads into a heavily armored torso. They possess four arms on which was affixed a giant piece of hull plating they used as a shield. The shield arm also has a heavy Omni-tool with which they would detonate tech armor off the shield. On the other side is a massive mass accelerator cannon with automatic secondary. The other two arms were usually folded up on the back. Their whole body was dotted with sensors so there was no head piece. Armory Mgalekgolo are usually deployed to accompany armored convoys as support units but are also used to great effect in confined spaces like starships.**

*******Szn'ftel uploading device****- created recently** **by the White reapers in order to give their operatives an effective means of infiltrating and gaining intelligence on their enemies, the device functioned in a similar manner to how the castes transferred themselves in to reaper form. However the process only works one way, as the devices liquefies the areas it has absorbed.**


	16. Chapter 15

**Authors Note: I apologize for the delay but college has dominated a significant portion of my time and my ideas have been difficult to formulate and refine. In any case back business…**

**I have been asked to write more personality into the characters and give insight into their thought processes. This would be difficult for many reasons: One, I am in the mindset that actions speak louder than words… in most cases. Two, the problem is finding a middle ground character that I can write from the perspective of because most of the characters I write about exist in two extremes, either too simple or too complex, and hardly any middle ground, like the Spartans, who are pretty much the ideal soldiers who share camaraderie with a select few but values all human life and thus their actions have more to say about their characters than what they say or think. Or the White Reapers and the collectors who, due to their age (between 50,000 – 1,000,000,000), have achieved thought processes so advanced and are so alien that it would be much too complicated to get into their heads and explain what they are thinking. However, I will attempt to do so with Analyzer Xel'Matee, the combat engineer sangheili who serves the White reapers and has infiltrated the Covenant fleet over Halo.**

**Deployment =00 hours: 03 minutes: 25 seconds (Sparten-117 Mission Clock)**

Master Chief observed his brothers, sisters, and friends as they readied their weapons. Other than watching the _Pillar of Autumn_ making an emergency landing, the trip in the escape pod was uneventful as the UNSC and White reapers spared no expense in insuring the integrity and safety of all the cruiser's systems including the life pods. He watched with a note of pride as his fellow Spartans, marines, and collectors secured the landing -zone where multiple pods made a simultaneous landing within a 100m radius. The collector general now had a pair of particle weapons assemblies mounted on its back thanks to a pair of fully-stocked armory Mgalekgolo that had been dropped off by a Praetorian.

"Company," Said Master Chief," Our current objectives are to rescue all survivors of the _Pillar of Autumn _and establish a forward operating base. The Covenant are likely moving in on the landing sites of the oncoming life pods so there is no time to lose. COMPANY MOVE OUT!"

The Spartans and collectors took the lead, while the marines brought up the middle, surrounding the collector general, and the armory Mgalekgolo brought up the rear.

"36, Casshern, deploy seeker swarm packs and find our people."

The deceptively solid light-brown boxes on the collectors' backs exploded into the hundreds of the mechanical insects.

"General, I want all collectors to deploy their packs, locate our people, and stay with them until they are rescued ." Instructed the Spartan to the collector general.

"Relaying instructions." The general's eyes glowed.

"First group of survivors located." Said 36. Master Chief's HUD displayed a geographical map with yellow dots surrounded by many red ones.

"Casshern, take Linda to the cliffs above us and be her spotter while she gives us covering fire." Ordered the Master Chief.

The collector nodded and grabbed the Spartan sniper. The collector's wings deployed out of its back while the two of them were surrounded with green biotics. They took off and disappeared. The Master Chief took the lead with the rest of the Spartans and 36 with the marines and the Collector general in the middle and the armory Mgalekgolo bringing up the rear. The group did a quick-march around the mesa and were quickly greeted with the sound of gun fire mixed with the discharge of Covenant plasma weaponry and the occasional sound of collector particle beam weapons. They jumped down into the valley and rounded the corner to see marines and Covenant defectors defending a tall angular structure while several airborne collectors bobbed and weaved firing on the attacking lines.

The Master Chief's group quickly caught the attacking Covenant in a crossfire, ripping apart sangheili, unggoy, and kig-yar alike. In mere minutes, the corpses of their enemy littered the ground surrounding the structure. 36 and marine medics immediately began to attend to the wounded while the Master Chief went up the ramp to the higher ground of the structure.

"Good to see you Master Chief, I thought our goose was cooked until our collector friends rained hellfire shortly before you showed up and dealt the killing blow." Said Sergeant Johnson. The collectors landed and retracted their wings.

Master Chief was about to reply when he received a text from Casshern: _Incoming dropships, 2 klicks at designated North._

The Spartans helmets zoomed in the indicated direction only to hear what sounded like cannon fire from beneath their feet and the dropships were suddenly blown in half. Mgalekgolo, no matter which side, were a force to be reckoned with. The Collectors policed the Covenants weapons and technology as they still were very useful.

The comm squawked to life, "_Echo 419 to any UNSC forces. Does anybody read me?" _

"Foehammer, this is Cortana. Sending ground coordinates to some survivors. Can you do a pick-up?" Asked the AI.

"_Affirmative Cortana but I need a place to take them."_ Replied the pilot as the distant sound of a Pelican was heard.

"Collector General 594, sending designated coordinated for Forward Operating Base." Said the alien coordinator.

"_Roger that, General."_ The pelican came in view accompanied by two Occuli fighters and five Praetorians, two individually carried warthogs, two worked together to carry a Grizzly, and the fifth carried a large piece of machinery. The Master Chief looked up to see additional lifepods. His helmet zoomed in on many of them and watched as Covenant Seraphs, Phantoms, Vampires and Banshees attempted to destroy them in flight only to be destroyed themselves by covering fire from Longsword fighters and their faster and more powerful Occuli wingmen.

The Master Chief turned to the Collector General," General, instruct those Praetorians to drop the vehicles off at Foehammer's landing position and to go provide covering fire for the survivors until extraction. Also, coordinate our air support for maximum coverage. Echo 419, I need you to drop your warthog and coordinate with the general and any of the other pelicans to pick up survivors. Noble team, go with the Praetorians and secure each group of survivors until we arrive." Instructed the Spartan team leader.

"Acknowledged." Replied the General as his eyes began to glow.

"_Roger, Chief."_ The pelican came in for a landing and demagnetized the warthog hanging from the undercarriage. The survivors began to load up onto the pelicans while the Spartans mounted the dropped vehicles. Noble team was carried under the Praetorians, which rapidly flew off. Noble team was on long term loan from Section-III and while the Master Chief knew Jorge, he did not know who the other Spartans were. But he figured that they were the next generation of Spartans he figured that would be coming.

Master Chief took the wheel of the forward-most warthog with a mounted automatic mass accelerator. The collector General, the Master Chief's other charge, had taken up the whole back seat of a troop transport Warthog variation along with some equipment . Where he alien had got it, he had no idea but he knew from his experience with the collectors on his team, that the general was most likely setting up a mobile command center in the backseat. He nodded to Joshua and Isaac who manned the front seats of the warthog.

That nod said a lot as it meant that their vehicle was now a VIP transport. While he could have sent the general with the survivors, he made the decision that the safest place for the collector was in the company of Spartans, so until ordered otherwise, that was where the collector general would stay. The other Spartans had occupied the other Warthog and the grizzly sitting two Spartans per tread pod. Linda was carried in the air by Casshern along with several other collectors providing air cover for the Spartans.

The caravan rolled out and the valley descended and rounded into a large tunnel.

"Strange this tunnel formation is artificial. Someone built it, so it must lead somewhere." Commented Cortana.

"Displaying topographical data from Seeker swarms." Announced the Collector General. A three dimensional map appeared on the windows of the caravan, displaying the tunnel's layout. Keeping speed with the grizzly, the Master Chief glanced at the map and noted the ramp they would have to jump shortly and a large cavern with several red-highlighted Covenant.

"I've hacked into the Covenant battle-net. They're actually broadcasting tactical data on unencrypted channels!" Said Cortana with delight, " We should show them who they're dealing with. Wait…"

The Master Chief listened while leading the caravan down a ramp, circling around before gunning the engine up the ramp to jump over the gap. He glanced at the rearview display to see the general's warthog, the grizzly, and the rearguard warthog follow in rapid succession. The airborne collectors had kept up with the caravan.

"Detecting ONI encrypted message in the Covenant battlenet disguised as noise. Decrypting…" Said Cortana.

The caravan rounded another corner.

"Message reads: _Analyzer and co infiltration successful. Operations: RED FLAG Stage II and AWAKENING underway." _Said Cortana.

The Master Chief clicked the comms and the other Spartans acknowledged as they approached the cavernous area on the map. They rounded another corner and soared into the cavern, weapons blazing. The Covenant forces in the area rapidly attempted to respond to the cavern but were either cut down by armor-piercing mass accelerator rounds from the warthogs, blown to pieces by the grizzly, sniped by Linda who had been delivered to a hidden location somewhere in the cavern by Casshern, or being sliced apart by collector particle weaponry.

As soon as it had started, it had ended. The Collectors landed and policed weapons and technology from the corpses. John exited the warthog.

"There must be controls for a bridge somewhere around here." Stated Cortana.

A few of the collectors nodded at Cortana's statement, deployed their wings once more, and flew to the other side. John scanned his surroundings and found a narrow up ramp. He walked up the ramp and suddenly came face to face with a Sangheili Major. John kicked into Spartan time and before the Sangheili could react, he stabbed a flash-forged omni-blade into throat of the massive alien. The sangheili's eyes rolled up into his head and gurgled before collapsing to the ground. John relived the Major of his plasma rifle and his plasma sword which he attached to his hips.

He moved past the corpse and continued down the passage way until he came upon a panel composed of solid holograms similar to what newer UNSC ships used and Omni-tools.

"36, my location, ASAP." He ordered the linguistic collector. There was soon the buzzing sound of the collectors wings. The Collector scientist landed and approached the panel. 36 was about to wave one of his Omni-tools over the panel when it suddenly occurred to John what he needed to do. He gently pushed the collector aside and pressed several symbols on the panel. The sound of machinery activating permeated the cavernous room as several beams extended between the two points. A bridge of pure light appeared over the beams.

"I was unaware you knew how to operate this technology." Commented the collector.

"How did you know what symbols to press?" asked Cortana.

"I didn't." admitted John.

"Well that explains a lot, actually." Said 36.

"How so?" Asked Cortana.

"It would not be something as you humans in this universe would notice as you have always had it but in comparison to the humans in our universe of origin, you have a considerably longer DNA stand. It has puzzled the White reapers and us collectors for some time as we were unable to ascertain the use of the extra chromosomes… until now." Explained the collector.

"…And that would be…?" asked the Master Chief.

"You race has been given the genetic information to, at the very least, operate this technology." Stated 36.

"What else?" Asked John, now curious.

"Numerous other things but I believe that this conversation should be continued at another time when we have established a FOB." Said 36 as he took to the air once more.

John silently agreed as he returned to the Warthog. One of the collectors hovered over the bridge and landed on it. It tapped its foot on the solid light structure then gave a thumbs up before returning to the air. John gunned the engine and led the caravan over the bridge of light. His passenger, Fred, waved his own Omni-tool over the light bridge and took scans for later. It wasn't long before they exited the tunnels into the light of day once more.

"General, any word on the survivors?" Asked the Master Chief.

"There were approximately seven groups of survivors five of which have been secured and safely transported to the established Firebase. The remaining two are located within a reachable distance. One group is hidden with a rockslide while the other is located inside a structure by a cliff face. Noble team is moving to secure the rockslide survivors." Stated the General.

"Alright, then we will secure the survivors by the cliffside." Said the Master Chief as he led the caravan to the end of the valley.

"Accessing the Covenant Battlenet. Seems as though Collector anti-fighter array on the _Pillar of Autumn _ is still active and is preventing Covenant forces from securing her. I have also located Captain Keyes, he's alive! The Covenant captured him and the command staff and are being taken to the _Truth and Reconciliation,_ a cruiser I disabled." Said Cortana.

"Formulating a rescue plan." Stated the general.

John returned his attention to driving and soon led the caravan to a pair of laid out flares which led into a canyon. Soon they came upon another structure that emitted apulse of energy that shot towards the sky. The caravan opened up their weapons upon the Covenant crawling about the structure. After the first shot was fired, most of them ducked into cover. Master Chief held up his fist to cease fire. He got out of the Warthog and the most of the other Spartans, except the ones manning the driver's seats and guns, lined up. The collectors formed up in the air.

"36, are the survivors still alive?" Asked John.

The sound of sniper rounds permeated the air as several Covenant who had poked their heads out of cover fell over dead.

"There are several dozen human lifesigns beneath the structure." Reported 36.

Master Chief nodded then gave to signal to advance. The Collectors accelerated and swooped down upon the Covenant particle weapons blazing them out of cover and into the sights of the advancing Spartans. Under the combined fire of both Collectors and Spartans, the remaining Covenant forces were dead within minutes. The Collectors policed weapons and technology from the Covenant force while John, Fred, Kelly, and 36 went into the structure.

They were greeted by a group of unhappy ODSTs, who obviously did not appreciate having to be rescued by their rivals the Spartans. 36 ignored their glares and began to attend to their wounded. With silent acknowledgement, the ODSTs packed-up their weapons and equipment and started to vacate the structure.

"Cortana to Echo 419, we have secured the last group of survivors and need extraction." Said the AI.

"I hear you Cortana but I just finished extracting Noble team. However, you have something headed your way that should be more than enough to pick up you, the survivors and your motor pool, so stand by." Said Foehammer.

"Roger Foehammer, Cortana out. General, is she referring to..?" Cortana didn't finish as the sound of engines suddenly cut her off. From beneath the face of a cliff appeared a vessel normally reserved for the deployment of firebases.

"A Pod? Asked an ODST. Four other vehicles hovered up next to the transport vessel.

"…and Vulture gunships? Where did you guys find those?" exclaimed the ODST as the Pod extended its massive boarding ramp. The Warthogs and Grizzly rolled up into the hold of the vessel.

"When we were retrofitting the _Pillar of Autumn_, Enigma instructed us to load her up with the mindset of' better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.' Plus, we are very efficient when it comes to saving space and a 3.25 km _Halcyon_ cruiser gave us a lot of space." Said another Collector as he landed and boarded the Pod.

The Spartans, Collectors, and ODSTs went up the ramp. As soon as everyone was loaded, the ramp went up, and the Pod lifted off to the firebase with its Vulture escort.

**Operation: Awakening****: An ongoing operation to free as many Huragok as possible as their race are technically slaves to the Covenant. The process releases a Huragok from its single mindedness and allows for a much greater range of free thinking. This is accomplished by having them listen to a signal created by the White Reaper Religion which unlocks their cognitive and social potential. 9 times out of 10 the freed huragok will join UNSC and White Reaper forces to aid in the efforts to free their race and end the war, though they are technically classified as noncombatants. This signal is referred to as "The Song of the Ancients" by the Covenant Defectors.**

**M850 Grizzly Main Battle Tank: ****Though originally too expensive to mass produce until the White Reapers introduced new manufacturing methods, the Grizzly has come to replace the Scorpion as the main battle tank deployed on the field.**

**White Reaper forces: ****Collectors are responsible for carrying out the tasks that either are too difficult for the White reapers to perform due to their size or are too inconvenient for them to attempt by themselves. Their relationship is symbiotic as the White reapers maintain their longevity through their mastery of biotechnology and nanotechnology. Each Collector comes from what few survivors remained after each reaper cycle was complete. When a new organic is selected to be a Collector, their equivalent of cerebral structure and nervous systems are removed and integrated with White Reaper technology. The result was a removable nearly-indestructible core for whatever genetic construct or piece of equipment the White Reapers needed them for Each Collector is a genetic construct that sift the best genetic qualities from each race encountered and biomechanically graft them into the collector bodies. The most recent addition was the four-eyes, the wide tapered head, and wings from the Protheans. The wings and collectors they were attached to were modified for long range flight. While they did posses the Prothean information-touch ability for a time but most of the host brains were unable to cope with the new ability so it was filtered out from all say for a few. From a race that turned themselves into cyborgs, the collectors received nutrient tube implants embedded in their necks removing their need for digestive organs. From a race that devoted their entire existences to the study of what came to be known as biotics, the collectors received the ability to harness biotics on an almost atomic level of precision and network their talents to manipulate biotics on a massive scale.**

**Collector Generals****: Most of them are what remains of the White reapers first batch of collectors which had gone through multiple levels of genetic purges to remove the taint of indoctrination but significantly reduced their overall capabilities. What they lack in personality, they make for in intelligence and experience. Each general serves as an organic server for the Collector Communication Network (CCS) which in the past 50,000 years was updated with rachni organic Quantum Entanglements Communicators (QEC). Generals can directly interface with several technologies making them as indispensable to the UNSC as their smart AIs. On the rare occasion they are deployed on the battlefield, Collector generals are usually equipped with shoulder mounted particle cannons and are biotic juggernauts. In rare cases, individuals with exceptional intelligence and tactical skills are extended the opportunity to become Collector Generals by the White Reapers. In terms of rank in the UNSC command structure, a Collector general will always defer to the next ranking officer and never assumes command of human soldier, however it offers its extensive tactical experience and lightning-fast assessment to quickly devise new plans.**

**Collector Scientists: ****Gathered from what little remained of each race after the reapers retreated back through the Citadel, these untainted survivors were extend an offer by Enigma to join his Collector ranks in hopes of one day ending the cycles. Most refused but every cycle yielded at least a dozen volunteers to swell the collector ranks. Most of the Collectors are composed of Engineers, technicians, and scientists from varying fields. While they have combat training they mostly prefer to remain aboard their ships or laboratories.**

**Collector Combat Engineers: ****Not all the volunteers the White Reapers pick up are engineers or scientists. Sometimes they pick up souls who still have fight in them but lack the resources or means to continue the fight. Over time they have picked up new skills to maintain and repair the technology given to them.**

**Praetorians: ****Unlike the variations used by Harbinger's Collectors, they are nearly fully robotic constructs that utilize Szn'ftel technology to maintain and repair themselves and are operated by collector cores. They serve as cargo carriers and heavy assault platforms as the need dictates. They can operate in space but are ideally suited for atmosphere.**

**Oculi: ****There is very little difference from traditional Oculi other than being flown by removable collector cores and are smarter than their reaper counterparts.**

**White Reaper technology:**** When the Szn'ftel built Enigma they used a combination of their biotechnology and reaper technology and created the White Reapers which were smarter, faster, stronger, and more powerful than any reaper. The combination prevented the White reapers from being influenced by Indoctrination. The hybrid technology has the ability to extract a person from their body and preserve it.**

**Szn'ftel Biotechnology: ****As the Szn'ftel advanced as a race they cultivated plant life to service their technology by fusing with it. They also cultivated their plants to serve a variety of functions from resource gathering to medical to starship construction. The Agriculture Caste can cultivate a plant to do just about anything.**

**Collector technology: ****A fairly durable technology that is crystalline-based and new technology can be grown provided the materials are available.**

**Author's Note: Thank you for all your comments and favorites.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Deployment =12 hours: 16 minutes: 19 seconds (Analyzer Xel Ma'tee Mission Clock)**

After hiding his update in the noise of the Battlenet through his Omni-tool, Xel exited the sanitation facilities to the squad of waiting unggoy. All of them were the same group that took the initiative to rescue the sangheili spec-ops soldier. The soldier in question was currently healing from additional injuries after an overboost from a stationary Wraith blew a stack of heavy storage containers onto the unfortunate sangheili. The accident was arranged with a huragok who was doing "maintenance" at the time. Due to the reputation of the huragok for their single-mindedness, the incident was regarded as an unfortunate accident.

Yayap was very open-minded for an unggoy and was more than happy to perform any task as long as it did not involve fighting. Xel had the squad read up on sangheili tactical doctrine and encouraged learning lekgolo war poetry. He was regarded by the squad oddly but they complied, delighted at the change in instructions. When no one was looking, he activated his Omni-tool and looked at the number of huragok that had been freed by the 'Song of the Ancients.' He was pleased to see that fifty huragok reported in. When he freed the first two, he asked them to do two things: establish a private, encrypted channel _within_ the Covenant Battlenet and pass the song along to other huragok. He could now communicate freely with the other infiltrators throughout the fleet.

The rest of the infiltrators were ONI trained sangheili, unggoy, and even a mgalekgolo pair-bond nicknamed Abbot and Costello. They had successfully transferred themselves throughout the Battle group and each was gather information and convincing others of their respective races to join. They had already recruited 56 unggoy but their allegiance was questionable at best. Abbot and Costello had convinced the multiple variations of Lekgolo of three ships to join them.

He shook his head at that,"_I don't think I will ever understand that race."_ Thought the analyzer to himself. When he initially met Enigma all those years ago, he thought the White Reaper was merely another Sangheili, he was still impressed with the level of detail and the illusion of solidity the reaper hologram presented. He had talked and talked and talked to the hologram and it listened. Its replies were few but every response was thought-provoking. After a week of talking to Enigma, he openly admitted to the reaper that he had doubts about the 'Great Journey' but rather than getting angry or accusing him of being heretic, the hologram (he still thought it was a sangheili at the time) merely nodded and questioned him further and encouraged him to pursue the truth because every honorable warrior should be certain of what he is fighting for.

So Xel examined doctrines of 'The Great Journey' and began to realize its inconsistencies. He compared the doctrines and the dates they were created to the events of his history. He didn't want to believe it at first but he realized what he and the other races had become: willing slaves to clever masters who sat on hovering chairs! When the realization occurred to him, he roared in outrage. But he calmed himself before taking the evidence and showing his fellow comrades-at-arms. Most did not believe it at first but as he clearly and methodically showed the evidence, more and more began to share his conclusion: The Great Journey was a lie. Many of them went to Enigma and they presented it to him bit by bit.

He asked them more questions that when they thought about them, they also realized in dismay that their race not only were willing slaves but also they could not function as a society if freed from the rule of the San'Shyuum. When they asked him what they should do, he answered with a question:" What race functions independent of the Covenant?" It took them a minute before one of the others spoke up. "The Humans?" The disguised reaper nodded. More questions arose from the crowd of Sangheili when one question arose that silenced them all;" Who are you?"

The disguised reaper looked at all of them before his form expanded, flowed, and shifted into a twenty foot tall rendition of his reaper form. Xel remembered how for the first time in his life, he had been frightened. Thought's had raced across his mind: _ What is he? Is he a Forerunner? Is he here to guide us? What is he like?_ A couple of the Sangheili kneeled, exclaiming about the Forerunner's return. The Reaper bid them to stand and listen to his story.

…And they did.

The White reaper spoke for hours. He spoke of the cycle of extinction, the Szn'ftel, his and his destroyers' creation, their collectors, he spoke of the human cycle where the White Reapers joined the war, and finally he spoke of their escape from their Universe. After his tale was complete, Xel took note of the increased audience with dozens of unggoy, and several Mgalekgolo pairs. The crowd was dead silent for a time. One sangheili asked:" Are you with the Covenant or against it?"

Without hesitation Enigma said:" Never again will we sit on the sidelines while genocide is committed. If you sanction the meaningless slaughter of those who have no cause to harm you nor have done anything to deserve a religious war. You blindly follow your 'Prophets' without thought or question. Where is honor in that?"

It was an answer that had run out, clear as day. The White Reaper was against the Covenant but not without reason.

"If you are against the Covenant, then why are you here talking to us?" Xel had asked.

"To give you the opportunity to change your minds and end this war before it even starts."

Xel had stood there enraptured until a higher-ranking sangheili yelled:" You speak blasphemy!"

"The conclusions that were stated here today originated from you, all I did was ask you questions concerning your society and tell you who I am and where we come from. Tell me where it was I stated blasphemy according to the Great Journey?"

When none of them answered the White Reaper said, Think on what I have said."

The image of the Reaper returned to his sangheili form and walked off. The sangheili and unggoy in the hangar started talking among themselves. The Mgalekgolo stood and listened. Xel listened as well. There was some talk of revealing the reaper presence to the Prophets. Others talked of spreading word to the others and organizing a rebellion against the prophets. Finally, Xel spoke out, not loudly, not in anger but firm and strong.

"It is clear on this day what has become of our races. Slaves… slaves to masters who made sure that if we rebelled, we would not survive for long without them. Without knowing anything other than fighting it would take a long time for us to understand things like technology, economy, healing, or farming. But… we have an opportunity to make a better future, an honorable one. A being who told us the truth about himself and ourselves gave us this opportunity. Brothers at arms, I will join him and follow him to a better future… a future without shadow or shame. Today, I urge you to take a new journey, one fraught with difficulties and dangers but if it were any other way it would not be the sangheili way." Several sangheili grunted their approval, the unggoy cheered, and the mgalekgolo banged their shields onto the deck.

Xel remembered that day when the winds of change blew through that Battlegroup. Little by little they disappeared into the Collector cruisers, 304 sangheili, 823 unggoy, and 178 Mgalekgolo pairs. When the Battlegroup was destroyed, their new futures began as they embraced the Collectors and humans as brothers and the White Reapers as mentors. The White Reapers put many a challenges before the Covenant defectors. Enigma challenged the Sangheili to put down their swords and pick up tools to become engineers, agricultural experts, and physicists while lending their expertise and tactics to the UNSC. The Unggoy were challenged to rise above their fear and cowardice to become great warriors, tacticians, merchants, and engineers. Finally, the Mgalekgolo were commissioned to broaden their skill range and become versatile soldiers of the Collector ranks.

Xel threw himself into his studies and soon came under the direct tutelage of the White Reapers. He was one of the few sangheili to receive enhancements from them. The enhancements were a combination of modified Spartan augmentations, Szn'ftel biotechnology, and White Reaper nanotechnology. Just as the Collectors sheathed their wings into their bodies when not in use, so did Xel's custom-made, form-fitting bio armor as it was currently sheathed beneath his skin. Due to his augments, he stood at 2.8 meters in height and possessed enough strength to easily wrestle a jiralhanae Chieftan. His height, though unusual, was not rare allowing him to locate a sangheili with the proper-sized armor.

He was jostled out of his memory when the Spirit, he and Yayap's squad were in, lurched as it entered into the cruiser he arranged them to be transferred to: The _Truth and Reconciliation_, 'conveniently' the same ship Captain Keyes and the surviving Command staff had been taken to. Once they were aboard, Xel dismissed the squad to the methane suite. Once he was by himself, he brought up his Omni-tool and sent a roll call message through the private security comm. The reply was nearly instantaneous as all the ONI infiltrators and their recruits reported in… on the ship. Xel smiled.

_All is going according to plan. _The Analyzer thought to himself.

**Deployment =36 hours: 54 minutes: 02 seconds (Corporal Elizabeth Binns Mission Clock)**

As the pod flew rapidly over the landscape towards the _Pillar of Autumn, _Corporal Elizabeth Binns looked across the compartment at her charge seated across from her. Collectors were as much legends to the Marine Corps as much as the Spartans were except they were known more for their scientific and medical accomplishments rather than their military ones. She had heard stories of how collectors spent as many resources to save lowly marines as they did to save high-ranking admirals. As they were seldom seen on the battlefield only a few of their names were known, 36 was one of them. Even though their pupil-less, lidless eyes, mouthless faces, and insectoid appearance made them a tad eerie, by reputation their presence was a morale booster.

She watched as the collector slid his vocoder collar out of slots in his neck and placed the device into his lap. His three-digit hands reached for the two pearl colored panels embedded in his neck and gently opened them. She had heard that the Collectors "ate" via tubes in their necks and she expected to see some of their fabled biotechnology but what she did not expect was to see a complex shifting crystal lattice work surrounding the four capsules resting vertically in each of the collector's panels. The Collector pulled a small box from his suit and opened it to reveal several more of the crystalline cylinders only filled with various thick liquids. One by one the collector swapped the capsules in his neck for the ones in the box. One they were all replaced, the collector closed the box with the empty capsules, closed the panels on his neck, and reattached the vocoder collar.

"Have you ever had a complete stranger stare at you while you were eating or doing your hair?" asked the Collector suddenly as he turned his lidless gaze upon her. He had spoken with neither malice nor offense, only curiosity.

She swallowed," No Sir, I haven't but I am sorry if I offended you."

"You did not and if it makes you feel more comfortable you may refer to me as 36 or Doctor."

"Corporal Elizabeth Binns, doc, my friends call me Liz." Said the marine.

"And what do your squadmates call you?" asked the Collector Scientist.

"Firehyde." She replied.

"What is the story behind that nickname?" asked the collector as he folded his hands and rested his head on them.

"When I served on Harvest about three years ago, we were holding one of the agricultural research centers you guys set up and we lost half our squad to suicide grunts. When I lost Simon… he was my best friend… I lost it I picked up a flamethrower and torched every stinking Covenant that came into my sight." She clenched her teeth as she remembered.

"Did maniacal laughter accompany this torching?" Asked the Collector.

The oddity of the question caught her off guard and she suddenly burst out laughing. She laughed long and hard as the transport shook. The collector got out of his seat and extended a hand to her. Still recovering, she took the collectors hand and followed him and the two dozen other marines down to the lower section of the pod which served as a storage center and motor pool. They went down the ramp into the main hangar of the _Pillar of Autumn._ That's when they saw the first one.

It was a short squat quadruped insectoid with four arms and it was wearing what looked to be an orange construction vest. It was carrying a large piece of Covenant wreckage towards a wide end of the hangar. The marines brought their weapons to bear on the creature.

"Keepers." Said 36," Genetic constructs created by the reapers to actively service and repair their technology."

"So they're not Covenant?" asked Elizabeth.

"No, they are little more than organic robots whose singular goal, right now, is to repair the _Autumn_."

The Marines put down their weapons as four Praetorians and three pairs of armory Mgalekgolo walked down the ramp and started to load equipment and vehicles into the Pod. Elizabeth followed 36 into the bowels of the downed cruiser. Along the way she saw more of the Keepers and tech drones repairing the ship.

"Where did all these things come from?" asked Elizabeth.

"A Tier 6 Omni-factory that survived impact." Replied the Collector.

"If I remember correctly, a Tier 1 Omni-factory exclusively manufactures civilian products. A Tier 2 Omni-factory manufactures medicines and medical equipment. Tier 3 manufactures general military technology and Tier 4 is mainly used in shipbuilding. But I have never heard anything about Tier 5 or 6." Recited the marine.

"Very good, glad to hear someone pays attention during briefings. Tier 5s are a recent development of the UNSC and serve as field factories that can build just about anything at a very rapid as long as it has power and the raw materials are on hand but that can be said of all the Omni-factories, they also can work with Covenant technology. Tier 6 is a Collector-only Omni-factory that manufactures organic constructs like myself or the keepers." Explained 36 as they boarded an elevator. The doors closed and they began to ascend.

"Where did it get the raw materials to make the keepers?" asked Elizabeth.

"The Covenant that were killed during the boarding action, during the crash, and those that have been dying as they have thrown themselves against this ships still-active anti-fighter array are what the factory uses." Said 36 as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

"You mean those things are dead Covenant?" asked Elizabeth, following 36 off the elevator.

"Yes, they are. When it comes to the White Reapers, it is not unusual for them to repurpose the dead to serve the living. It's like recycling." Stated the scientist.

"Is that what you do with our dead?" asked Elizabeth with a look of disgust.

"No, those that we cannot successfully resuscitate are packed up and sent to Earth for burial. We may not share your customs, Miss Binns, but when appropriate, we do respect them." The Collector led them before a door that said: **RESTRICTED AREA: COLLECTOR AND REFORMERS ONLY.**

"Reformers?" asked Elizabeth.

"It is what the Covenant defectors call themselves." 36 waved his Omni-tool over the door and the sound of several latches coming undone was heard. Green waves of biotic energy encompassed the collector's organic arm as he pushed the door inwards then up. He held the 2m thick door up while motioning her inside. She went in before the collector who followed her in, let the door back down, and pushed it back into place. The other door of the airlock opened automatically to the collector section of the ship. It was a hexagonal latticework same as the inside of 36's neck. But there was… something else… another technology was present in that section of the ship. The technology was more organic in appearance but had a blue/ grey color scheme and was more insectoid in appearance.

They then ran into another being that walked by. It had a lean body, oddly bent knees, three-fingered hands, exposed muscular structure, and a long, tapered neck that ended in a singular glowing eye. This time Corporal Elizabeth did not aim her weapon.

"And what is that?" she asked.

"That is a geth standard platform." Said 36 as he led her down a corridor.

"In English?"

"A software-based, networked machine race, similar to UNSC AI's except you can fit about a hundred of them in your basic platform and they do not need organic brains to be made." Replied the collector as they walked by a Sangheili in a lab coat.

"Why are we here?" asked Elizabeth nervously.

Before the Collector could answer an alarm sounded. 36 led her through more of the mysterious corridors into a cavernous room with many levels, the activity resembled a bridge. A large reptilian creature with a hump wearing a lab coat with a hammer-like cane entered into another part of the rook.

"REPORT!" shouted the creature.

"Covenant battlecruiser bearing down on us, Dr. Xaal." Said an unggoy, manipulating a holographic control panel at lightning speed.

"Status of portside Shiagur cannons." requested the alien scientist.

"Turrets 1, 2, and 4 are ready for deployment. 3 and 5 are still being installed and 6 is still sitting in cargo bay 12 due to restructuring of section 2." Reported a sangheili seated at his own station.

"Spin up the reactor and bring 1, 2, and 4 online. Charge firing capacitors of 1 and 2 with phasic rounds. Once those shields come down, reset them with Sledgehammer rounds. Have 4 standing by with armor-piercing rounds trained on the following coordinates on the battlecruiser." Ordered the scientist.

Controls were furiously typed as the image of the cruiser appeared on the main screen.

"Capacitors charged."

"Fire 1 and 2, bring those shields down!" yelled the alien.

The deck shook as the massive battleship-styled, three-barreled turrets fired phasically- charged mass accelerator rounds into the approaching cruiser.

"Cruiser shields at 63.2%" reported an unggoy.

The deck shook as the guns fired again.

"29.6%"

Energy arced out of the _Autumn's _portside.

"Shield's down!"

"Fire number 4!" ordered Xaal.

With a roar, the turret bore a hole through the cruiser. All the lights went out on the cruiser as it fell towards the _Autumn_.

"Sledgehammer rounds, bow of the ship, NOW!"

The deck shuddered as the rounds slammed into the nose of the battlecruiser pushing it to one side as it crashed parallel to the _Pillar of Autumn_.

"Did you plan that and what are you?" Asked Elizabeth.

"I have been trying to lure one in our direction since we first arrived. I am a Krogan." He took a slight bow. "Dr. Eldim Xaal, at your service." For the first time she noticed the scientist had a prosthetic arm but unlike 36's arm it had qualities of both clockwork and collector technology.

"Corporal Elizabeth Binns… um… at yours." Said the marine as she saluted. "Excuse me, sir, but why do you want a wrecked cruiser?"

"Plasma reactors, repulsor engines, anti-gravity pods, plasma torpedoes, plasma turrets, and enough raw material to get the _Autumn_ back on her feet… oh… and more organic material for the keeper factory. So, how may I help you?" asked the scientist with a smile.

36 walked up to the Krogan and handed him a datapad. Xaal took the pad and looked over it.

"Inform the general, if he wants to use Sigma squad, I will need four praetorians and two dozen huragok in exchange, everything else I can spare." Said Xaal.

36's eyes glowed briefly," He agrees to your terms."

"Have a pleasant day." Said Xaal with a smile.

As they left that section of the ship, Elizabeth asked," What was that all about?"

"The general has formulated a plan to rescue Captain Keyes, capture and repair a Covenant cruiser, and to take and hold a high-valued piece of real estate from the Covenant. However, Major Silva will likely reject the plan based upon his purist and gloryhound mindset. So, before the plan is presented we came here to get the Major and his people some personnel, equipment, and weapons to make him think his people have all the cards" Said 36.

"And what about us marines?" asked Elizabeth.

"You will be support for the Collectors and Spartans. When they take the ship, you will be responsible for clearing out all hostiles." Replied 36 as they went back into the hangar.

**Authors note: Before anyone gives me grief about how fast they are fixing the **_**Pillar of Autumn**_**, let me inform you of the following: One, because the **_**Pillar of Autumn**_** possesses multiple eezo drive cores which were still active when the **_**Autumn**_** crashed using kinetic barriers to cushion the fall and reduce it mass to minimize kinetic force. Two, keepers are incredibly quick at repairing reaper technology, so anything less advanced, aided by factories can be repaired relatively quickly. As for why they couldn't use the factories earlier is a simple matter of not having the raw materials.**

**Some of you who have read my other fic, **_**A genius rises**_**, will recognize Dr. Eldim Xaal. The reason he is with the White Reapers is because they had better equipment for his research. The geth are actually a spec-ops branch that was going to be deployed from a collector cruiser along with 1500 krogan, 1000 males, 500 females, all cured of the genophage, covertly dropped onto Palaven. The geth have reaper upgrades. As the White Reapers had the greatest stealth technology, they were asked to transport the small army… until the fleet was ambushed forcing Enigma to create an E99 wormhole which initially brought them to the Halo universe.**

**So, yes, mass effect fans there will be krogan and geth in future chapters. However, the krogan have been spending the past 25 years expanding their numbers while the geth have been assisting the White Reapers with special project which will be revealed later.**


End file.
